{"id":91103,"date":"2018-10-05T10:20:12","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T14:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=91103"},"modified":"2022-12-09T13:17:35","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T18:17:35","slug":"stare-kid-ucfs-football-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/stare-kid-ucfs-football-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is \u201cThe Stare-Down Kid\u201d at UCF\u2019s Football Games?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In between all the action at UCF\u2019s home football games the past two weeks, one Knight stood out \u2014 but he wasn\u2019t in uniform or even on the field. Instead, he was a face in a crowd of thousands of fans at Spectrum Stadium.<\/p>\n

A face that stood out enough to make it to ESPN and even become the most-liked Instagram posts on the @UCFKnights account, amassing more than 26,000 likes between two separate videos by Oct. 4. His mug earned more likes than the Knights\u2019 Peach Bowl win, Knightro\u2019s latest dance video and Shaquem Griffin\u2019s draft in the NFL.<\/p>\n

By now, if you\u2019ve been watching this season\u2019s games, you know, or should know, it\u2019s \u201cThe Stare-Down Kid,\u201d a young man who blankly and intensely looked into the video-board camera without blinking or smiling during the Sept. 21 game against Florida Atlantic University.<\/p>\n

What you probably don\u2019t know is who he is. Anthony Allan is a first-year civil engineering<\/a> major who had no idea that by trying to be funny in the moment, he\u2019d turn into a viral phenomenon.<\/p>\n

During the Sept. 29 game against the University of Pittsburgh, Allan solidified his GOAT (greatest of all time) status by repeating his camera stare-down, but this time he took it to the next level by having his friends hold large cut-outs of his emotionless face as they crowded around him.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not watching UCF football games, Allan attends classes, plays soccer on the weekends at the intramural fields \u2014 and in between gets called a \u201clegend\u201d by strangers on campus (which even happened during this interview.)<\/p>\n

Here, Allan shares more about himself and what it\u2019s like to be one of the most recognizable faces at UCF.<\/p>\n

Why did you come to UCF?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had lived in Gainesville for 15 years, so I didn\u2019t really feel like going to UF because I had been there for so long. The [UCF] engineering program<\/a>, the football team, the campus and student life seemed like a great environment and I wanted to be a part of that.<\/p>\n

So how did you become \u201cThe Stare-Down Kid\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was sitting with my friend [at the game against FAU] and I noticed the person working the \u201cFan of the Game\u201d camera and just stared at him to see if he would notice me. He basically signaled to me to wait a minute and he\u2019d put me on. He did and it just happened and he kept cutting back to me.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know at first I\u2019d be on there. I was just staring at the camera, and my friend told me I was on the screen and they were all flipping out. But I couldn\u2019t look away because I was already staring. So I had to keep staring.<\/p>\n