UCF Football History

Roger Simmons, July 5, 2008

1979 –

A season by season look at
the UCF Knights football team.

> 1979
	NCAA Division III (inaugural football season) Record: 6-3 Coach: Don Jonas (6-3)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-22	at St. Leo	W, 21-0
9-29	Fort Benning	W, 7-6
10-13	Maryville	W, 10-7
10-20	at Fort Lauderdale	W, 14-0
10-27	at Presbyterian	L, 48-0
11-3	at Emory & Henry	L, 28-14
11-10	University of the South	W, 24-0
11-17	Morehouse	W, 14-7

> 1980
	NCAA Division III Record: 3-5-1 Coach: Don Jonas (9-8-1)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-13	Carson-Newman *	L, 30-21
9-20	St. Leo	W, 55-0
9-27	Millsaps	L, 8-7
10-4	Miles	T, 11-11
10-11	at Savannah State	L, 44-0
10-18	at North Alabama	L, 28-3
11-1	Catawba	W, 14-12
11-8	SUNY-Albany (HC)	L, 28-27
11-15	Emory & Henry	W, 18-14
* later forfeited by Carson-Newman

> 1981
	NCAA Division III Record: 4-6 Coach: Don Jonas (13-14-1)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-12	Presbyterian	L, 3-0
9-19	Elizabeth City	L, 14-9
9-26	at Millsaps	W, 13-6
10-3	Miles	W, 6-0
10-10	Savannah State	W, 47-13
10-17	at Alabama A&M	L, 23-15
10-31	at West Georgia	L, 20-6
11-7	Hampden-Sydney (HC)	W, 17-0
11-14	Millersville	L, 27-9
11-21	Bethune-Cookman	L, 24-20

> 1982
	NCAA Division II (first year) Record: 0-10 Coach: Sam Weir (0-10)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-11	Georgia Southern (at Jax)	L, 16-9
9-19	Southeastern Louisiana	L, 24-14
9-25	at VMI	L, 69-0
10-2	at Valdosta State	L, 13-7
10-9	Bethune-Cookman	L, 40-12
10-16	Alabama A&M	L, 31-10
10-23	at Nicholls State	L, 60-10
10-30	West Georgia (HC)	L, 41-7
11-6	Carson-Newman	L, 36-17
11-13	Eastern Kentucky	L, 26-14

> 1983
	NCAA Division II Record: 5-6 Coach: Lou Saban (5-6)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-2	Elizabeth City	W, 37-7
9-10	at Georgia Southern	W, 33-29
9-17	at Southeastern Louisiana	L, 54-28
9-24	North Alabama	L, 47-20
10-1	Valdosta State (HC)	W, 20-0
10-15	at Richmond	L, 31-26
10-29	at Austin Peay	W, 10-7
11-5	at Carson-Newman	L, 35-14
11-12	Nicholls State	L, 27-14
11-19	Fort Lewis	W, 59-28
11-26	Bethune-Cookman	L, 31-22

> 1984
	NCAA Division II Record: 2-9 Coaches: Lou Saban (6-12), Jerry Anderson (1-3)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-1	Bethune-Cookman	L, 43-22
9-8	at Louisiana-Monroe	L, 49-21
9-15	Georgia Southern	L, 42-28
9-22	at Western Kentucky	W, 35-34
9-29	at Southwest Texas State	L, 39-13
10-6	Akron	L, 26-21
10-13	at Eastern Kentucky	L, 37-14
10-20	Illinois State	W, 28-24
10-27	Austin Peay (HC)	L, 24-21
11-3	at Indiana State	L, 38-0
11-10	at Furman	L, 42-6
Note: Saban coached first 7 games, Anderson the last 4 games

> 1985
	NCAA Division II Record: 4-7 Coach: Gene McDowell (4-7)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-7	Bethune-Cookman	W, 39-37
9-13	Southeastern Louisiana	W, 27-21
9-28	at Illinois State	L, 48-21
10-5	Southwest Texas State	L, 48-12
10-12	Western Kentucky	L, 47-17
10-19	Eastern Kentucky	L, 28-21
10-26	Stephen F. Austin (HC)	L, 59-24
11-2	at Louisville	L, 42-21
11-9	at Georgia Southern	L, 35-18
11-23	Savannah State	W, 31-7
11-30	Samford	W, 35-14

> 1986
	NCAA Division II Record: 6-5 Coach: Gene McDowell (10-12)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-6	Bethune-Cookman	W, 26-14
9-13	West Georgia	W, 34-21
9-20	Valdosta State	W, 10-7
9-27	at Akron	L, 20-17
10-4	Murray State	W, 38-25
10-11	at Wichita State	L, 9-6
10-18	at Eastern Kentucky	L, 51-24
10-25	Wofford (HC)	L, 31-28
11-1	at VMI	W, 38-9
11-8	Georgia Southern	L, 33-23
11-15	Samford	W, 66-7

> 1987
	NCAA Division II Record: 9-4 Coach: Gene McDowell (19-16)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-5	Bethune-Cookman	W, 17-9
9-19	Elon	W, 34-10
9-26	Eastern Kentucky	L, 23-16
10-3	at Georgia Southern	L, 34-32
10-10	Savannah State	W, 36-26
10-17	West Georgia	W, 52-14
10-24	NW Missouri State (HC)	W, 45-3
10-31	Grand Valley State	W, 67-3
11-7	Liberty	W, 42-21
11-14	at Florida A&M	L, 19-14
11-21	Morningside	W, 24-7
11-28	Indiana, Pa. *	W, 12-10
12-5	Troy State *	W, 31-10
* Division II playoffs

> 1988
	NCAA Division II Record: 6-5 Coach: Gene McDowell (25-21)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-2	Bethune-Cookman	W, 29-21
9-10	West Georgia	W, 33-14
9-17	Troy State	W, 26-18
9-24	at East Tennessee State	W, 23-17
10-1	North Alabama	W, 35-33
10-8	New Haven	L, 31-23
10-15	Southern Conn. State (HC)	W, 24-16
10-22	at Valdosta State	L, 48-19
10-29	Georgia Southern	L, 31-17
11-5	at Liberty	L, 24-7
11-12	at Eastern Kentucky	L, 35-31

> 1989
	NCAA Division II Record: 7-3 Coach: Gene McDowell (32-24)

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
9-1	Bethune-Cookman	L, 23-15
9-9	Valdosta State	W, 35-14
9-16	at Troy State	L, 20-6
9-23	Newberry	W, 30-3
9-30	at North Alabama	W, 17-16
10-7	East Tennessee State	W, 34-0
10-21	at Georgia Southern	L, 31-17
10-28	Liberty (HC)	W, 33-30
11-11	Eastern Kentucky	W, 20-19
11-18	Texas Southern	W, 49-12

> 1990
	NCAA Division I-AA (first year) Record: 10-4 Coach: Gene McDowell (42-28)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-1	Troy State	W, 16-10
9-8	at Eastern Kentucky	L, 24-12
9-15	at Bethune-Cookman	W, 42-9
9-22	at Memphis State	L, 37-28
9-29	Kentucky State	W, 49-0
10-6	at Samford	W, 37-16
10-20	Georgia Southern	L, 38-17
10-27	Southern Illinois	W, 49-14
11-3	Liberty	W, 28-6
11-10	Slippery Rock (HC)	W, 24-21
11-17	Texas Southern	W, 63-6
11-24	at Youngstown State *	W, 20-17
12-1	William & Mary *	W, 52-38
12-8	at Georgia Southern	L, 44-7
* I-AA playoffs

> 1991
	NCAA Division I-AA Record: 6-5 Coach: Gene McDowell (48-33)

Date	Opponent	Result
8-31	Troy State	W, 21-10
9-7	at James Madison	L, 49-31
9-14	at Valdosta State	W, 12-0
9-21	East Carolina	L, 47-25
9-28	Bethune-Cookman	W, 32-6
10-5	at Arkansas State	W, 31-20
10-12	Samford	L, 13-6
10-26	at Georgia Southern	L, 20-6
11-2	Savannah State (HC)	L, 33-31
11-9	at Liberty	W, 31-26
11-16	Millersville	W, 52-6

> 1992
	NCAA Division I-AA Record: 6-4 Coach: Gene McDowell (54-37)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-5	Gardner-Webb	W, 71-26
9-12	Bethune-Cookman	W, 28-3
9-19	Troy State	L, 20-16
9-26	at Western Illinois	W, 35-22
10-3	Moscow (exhibition)	W, 43-6
10-17	Nicholls State	W, 42-18
10-24	at Western Kentucky	L, 50-36
10-31	at Liberty	L, 31-28
11-7	Buffalo (HC)	W, 63-21
11-14	James Madison	W, 41-37
11-21	at Samford	L, 20-13

> 1993
	NCAA Division I-AA Record: 9-3 Coach: Gene McDowell (63-40)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-11	Valdosta State	W, 35-30
9-18	at East Carolina	L, 41-17
9-25	McNeese State	W, 22-3
10-2	Yale	W, 42-28
10-9	Samford	W, 48-17
10-16	Western Illinois (HC)	W, 35-17
10-23	at Bethune-Cookman	W, 34-14
10-30	at Troy State	L, 29-15
11-6	Liberty	W, 55-19
11-13	Buffalo	W, 42-7
11-20	Louisiana Tech	W, 38-16
11-27	at Youngstown State*	L, 56-30
* I-AA playoffs

> 1994
	NCAA Division I-AA Record: 7-4 Coach: Gene McDowell (70-44)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-3	at Maine	W, 28-6
9-10	Valdosta State	L, 31-14
9-17	Bethune-Cookman	W, 48-17
9-24	Western Kentucky	W, 59-45
10-1	at Illinois State	W, 27-26
10-8	at Samford	L, 36-35
10-15	at Louisiana Monroe	W, 33-16
10-22	Troy State (HC)	L, 39-38
10-29	at Liberty	W, 49-24
11-12	at East Carolina	L, 23-20
11-19	Buffalo	W, 48-0

> 1995
	NCAA Division I-AA Record: 6-5 Coach: Gene McDowell (76-49)

Date	Opponent	Result
8-31	Eastern Kentucky	W, 40-32
9-9	Carson-Newman	W, 35-21
9-23	at Florida State (No. 1)	L, 46-14
9-30	at McNeese State	L, 49-7
10-7	Samford	W, 41-14
10-14	Liberty	L, 7-6
10-21	at Hawaii	L, 45-14
10-28	at Louisiana Monroe	W, 34-14
11-4	Bethune-Cookman (HC)	W, 38-7
11-11	Troy State	L, 28-17
11-18	Maine	W, 37-17

> 1996
	NCAA Division I-A (first year) Record: 5-6 Coach: Gene McDowell (81-55)

Date	Opponent	Result
8-29	William & Mary	W, 39-33
9-7	at South Carolina	L, 33-14
9-14	at New Mexico	L, 17-7
9-21	at Ball State	L, 31-10
9-28	at East Carolina	L, 28-7
10-12	Samford	W, 38-6
10-19	Louisiana-Monroe	L, 39-38
10-26	at Georgia Tech	L, 27-20
11-2	Illinois State (HC)	W, 42-15
11-9	at UAB	W, 35-13
11-16	Bowling Green	W, 27-19

> 1997
	NCAA Division I-A Record: 5-6 Coach: Gene McDowell (86-61)

Date	Opponent	Result
8-30	at Mississippi	L, 24-23 OT
9-6	at South Carolina	L, 33-31
9-13	at Nebraska (No. 6)	L, 38-24
9-20	Idaho	W, 41-10
9-27	at Auburn (No. 8)	L, 41-14
10-4	at Kent State	W, 59-43
10-11	Samford	W, 52-7
10-25	at Mississippi State	L, 35-28
11-1	at Louisiana-Monroe	L, 45-41
11-15	Eastern Michigan (HC)	W, 27-10
11-22	Toledo	W, 34-17

> 1998
	NCAA Division I-A Record: 9-2 Coach: Mike Kruczek (9-2)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-5	at Louisiana Tech	W, 64-30
9-12	Eastern Illinois	W, 48-0
9-19	at Purdue (ESPN)	L, 35-7
9-26	at Bowling Green	W, 38-31
10-3	at Toledo	W, 31-24
10-10	Northern Illinois	W, 38-17
10-24	at Louisiana-Lafayette	W, 42-10
10-31	Youngstown State	W, 44-32
11-7	at Auburn	L, 10-6
11-14	Ball State (HC)	W, 37-14
11-21	New Mexico	W, 38-6

> 1999
	NCAA Division I-A Record: 4-7 Coach: Mike Kruczek (13-9)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-4	Purdue (No. 22)	L, 47-13
9-11	at Florida (No. 4)	L, 58-27
9-18	at Georgia Tech (No.12)	L, 41-10
9-25	at Georgia (No. 11)	L, 24-23
10-2	Eastern Illinois	W, 31-21
10-16	Nicholls State	W, 38-0
10-23	Louisiana Tech	L, 46-35
10-30	Eastern Michigan (HC)	W, 31-6
11-6	at Auburn	L, 28-10
11-13	at Middle Tennessee	W, 39-14
11-20	Bowling Green	L, 33-30 OT

> 2000
	NCAA Division I-A Record: 7-4 Coach: Mike Kruczek (20-13)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-2	at Georgia Tech	L, 21-17
9-9	Northwestern State	W, 19-7
9-16	at Akron	L, 35-24
9-23	William & Mary	W, 52-7
9-30	at Eastern Michigan	W, 31-10
10-7	at Northern Illinois	L, 40-20
10-14	Eastern Kentucky	W, 34-3
10-21	Louisiana-Monroe (HC)	W, 55-0
10-28	at Alabama	W, 40-38
11-4	at Louisiana Tech	W, 20-16
11-11	Virginia Tech (No. 8)	L, 44-21

> 2001
	NCAA Division I-A Record: 6-5 Coach: Mike Kruczek (26-18)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-1	at Clemson (No. 19)	L, 21-13
9-8	at Syracuse	L, 21-10
9-22	at Tulane	W, 36-29
9-29	at Virginia Tech (No. 8)	L, 46-14
10-6	UAB	W, 24-7
10-13	Liberty	W, 63-0
10-20	Louisiana-Monroe (HC)	W, 38-6
10-27	at Utah State	L, 30-27
11-3	Akron	W, 57-17
11-10	at Arkansas	L, 27-20
11-24	Louisiana-Lafayette	W, 31-0

> 2002
	NCAA Division I-A Mid American Conference (first year) Record: 7-5 overall, 6-2 MAC Coach: Mike Kruczek (32-23)

Date	Opponent	Result
8-31	at Penn State (24) (ESPN)	L, 27-24
9-7	at Arizona State	L, 46-21
9-20	at Marshall # (ESPN2)	L, 26-21
9-28	Liberty	W, 48-17
10-12	at Western Michigan #	W, 31-27
10-19	Toledo #	L, 27-24
10-26	Akron # (HC)	W, 28-17
11-2	Syracuse	L, 38-35
11-9	at Buffalo #	W, 45-21
11-16	Kent State #	W, 32-6
11-23	at Miami, OH #	W, 48-31
11-30	Ohio #	W, 42-32
# MAC game

> 2003
	NCAA Division I-A Mid-American Conference Record: 3-9 overall, 2-6 MAC Coaches: Mike Kruczek (35-30), Alan Gooch (0-2)

Date	Opponent	Result
8-31	at Va. Tech (No. 9) ESPN	L, 48-28
9-13	Florida Atlantic	W, 33-29
9-20	at Syracuse	L, 38-14
9-27	at Kent State #	L, 36-16
10-4	Buffalo #	W, 19-10
10-11	at Ohio #	L, 28-0
10-18	at Akron #	L, 38-24
10-25	Central Michigan # (HC)	W, 31-13
11-1	at West Virginia	L, 36-18
11-8	at Eastern Michigan #	L, 19-13
11-19	Marshall # (ESPN2)	L, 21-7
11-28	Miami, OH # (No. 15)	L, 56-21
# MAC game (Note: Kruczek coached first 10 games, Gooch coached last 2 games)

> 2004
	NCAA Division I-A Mid-American Conference Record: 0-11, 0-8 MAC Coach: George O’Leary (0-10)

Date	Opponent	Result
8-31	at Wisconson (No. 21)	L, 34-6
9-11	West Virginia (No. 10)	L, 45-20
9-18	Penn State	L, 37-13
10-2	at Buffalo #	L, 48-20
10-9	Northern Illinois #	L, 30-28
10-16	Akron #	L, 26-21
10-23	at Miami, OH #	L, 43-7
10-30	at Marshall #	L, 20-3
11-6	Ohio # (HC) #	L, 17-16 OT
11-13	at Ball State #	L, 21-17
11-23	Kent State #	L, 41-24
# MAC game

> 2005
	NCAA Division I-A Conference USA (first year) Record: 8-5 overall, 7-2 C-USA Coach: George O’Leary (8-15)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-1	at South Carolina	L, 24-15
9-17	at USF	L, 31-14
9-24	Marshall #	W, 23-13
10-1	at Louisiana-Lafayette	W, 24-21
10-8	Memphis #	W, 38-17
10-15	at Southern Miss #	L, 52-31
10-22	Tulane #	W, 34-24
10-29	at East Carolina #	W, 30-20
11-5	Houston #	W, 31-29
11-12	at UAB #	W, 27-21
11-19	at Rice #	W, 31-28
12-3	Tulsa # ^	L, 44-27
12-24	Nevada (Hawaii Bowl)	L, 49-48 OT
# C-USA game ^ C-USA Championship

> 2006
	NCAA Division I-A Conference USA Record: 4-8 overall, 3-5 C-USA Coach: George O’Leary (12-23)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-2	Villanova	W, 35-12
9-9	at Florida	L, 42-0
9-16	South Florida	L, 24-17
9-26	Southern Miss # (ESPN)	L, 19-14
10-4	at Marshall # (ESPN2)	W, 23-22
10-13	Pittsburgh (ESPN)	L, 52-7
10-21	Rice #	L, 40-29
10-28	at Houston #	L, 51-31
11-4	East Carolina #	L, 23-10
11-11	at Memphis #	W, 26-24
11-18	at Tulane #	L, 10-9
11-25	UAB #	W, 31-22
# C-USA game

> 2007
	NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Conference USA Champions Record: 10-4 overall, 9-1 C-USA Coach: George O’Leary (22-27)

Date	Opponent	Result
9-1	at N.C. State	W, 25-23
9-15	Texas	L, 35-32
9-22	Memphis #	W, 56-20
9-29	Louisiana-Lafayette	W, 37-19
10-6	at East Carolina #	L, 52-38
10-13	at USF	L, 64-12
10-20	vs. Tulsa #	W, 44-23
10-28	at Southern Miss #	W, 34-17
11-3	vs. Marshall #	W, 47-13
11-10	at UAB #	W, 45-31
11-17	at SMU #	W, 49-20
11-24	UTEP #	W, 36-20
12-1	Tulsa # ^	W, 44-25
12-29	Miss State (Liberty Bowl)	L, 10-4
# C-USA game ^ C-USA Championship

UCF helmets courtesy of The Helmet Project

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