{"id":22323,"date":"2021-10-07T19:27:48","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T19:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=22323&post_type=story"},"modified":"2022-08-03T13:56:40","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T13:56:40","slug":"back-to-bouncin","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/back-to-bouncin\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to Bouncin’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fall 2021\u00a0<\/em>|\u00a0By Jenna Marina Lee\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It will go down in UCF history as the game that took two\u00a0days to win. After enduring a lightning delay that pushed\u00a0back the UCF football team\u2019s season opening kickoff\u00a0against Boise State on Sept. 2<\/a>, the Knights rallied to a 36-31\u00a0victory to start the Gus Malzahn era. The game eventually\u00a0wrapped at 1:26 a.m. on Sept. 3 in front of a still lively\u00a0crowd in the Bounce House. The win put an exclamation\u00a0point on the return of the full game-day experience on\u00a0campus \u2014 including tailgating, the Knight Walk, March\u00a0to Victory, and on-field performances by the Marching\u00a0Knights<\/a> and spirit squad for the first time since the\u00a02019 season.
\n[blockquote source=”Gus Malzahn, UCF head football coach in his postgame locker room speech to the team”]\u201cI\u2019ve coached football for 31 years. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever had a team that dealt with adversity like you did. The champion came out in you. We could not be more proud of you \u2014 we\u2019re so blessed to be coaching you guys. Enjoy this thing.\u201d [\/blockquote]<\/p>\n

161<\/h2>\n

Minutes kickoff was delayed by inclement weather<\/p>\n

27th<\/h2>\n

Time since the 2018 season that UCF has appeared on\u00a0ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, ranking in the top 10 in the nation\u00a0in major network appearances during that time<\/p>\n

24th<\/h2>\n

Consecutive game Dillon Gabriel completed a passing\u00a0touchdown, tying him with McKenzie Milton \u201919<\/strong> for the\u00a0second longest streak in UCF history<\/p>\n

23<\/h2>\n

Consecutive points the Knights scored to erase the\u00a0largest first-half deficit in school history (21 points)<\/p>\n

9+<\/h2>\n

Hours for Marc Daniels\u2019 radio game day broadcast\u00a0(5 p.m. to 2:12 a.m.), the longest in UCF football history<\/p>\n

6th<\/h2>\n

Straight season opening victory<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”22434″ title=”Pegasus-WEB-FA2021-infocus-football-1200×800-1″ alt=”Two fans pose in front of a UCF flag” width=”100%”]UCF fans were out in full force tailgating on Memory Mall prior to kickoff.[\/photo]<\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”22435″ title=”Pegasus-WEB-FA2021-infocus-football-1200×800-3″ alt=”A fan wears a Knight helmet and armor” width=”100%”] The Knightalorian (@knightalorian) shows off his custom, homemade costume \u2014 a nod to the Disney+ Emmy-winning show \u201cThe Mandalorian.\u201d(Photo by Brooke Morris)[\/photo]<\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”22436″ title=”Pegasus-WEB-FA2021-infocus-football-1200×800-4″ alt=”Knightro points at the camera while Knight Moves and the cheer team follow behind him during the March to Victory.” width=”100%”]Knightro and the UCF spirit squad lead the March to Victory. [\/photo]<\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”22437″ title=”Pegasus-WEB-FA2021-infocus-football-1200×800-5″ alt=”Fans cheering in the stadium” width=”100%”]UCF’s student section, The Knightmare, took home the first Taco Bell L<\/span>ive M\u00e1s Student Section of the Week honor this year following the season opening win. <\/span>[\/photo]<\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”22438″ title=”Pegasus-WEB-FA2021-infocus-football-1200×800-6″ alt=”Guz Malzahn holds up a football in the locker room while Terry Mohajir stands nearby.” width=”100%”]UCF head coach Gus Malzahn holds up the game ball as he addresses the team in the locker room after the game. (Photo by Mark Godin)[\/photo]<\/p>\n

\n

[photo id=”22439″ title=”Pegasus-WEB-FA2021-infocus-football-1200×800-7″ alt=”A football player holds up one finger after scoring a touchdown” width=”100%”]Freshman wide receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala scores just before halftime against Boise State.[\/photo]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22440,"template":"","categories":[979],"tags":[388,208],"class_list":["post-22323","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-focus","tag-ucf-athletics","tag-marching-knights","issues-1541","issues-fall-2021"],"yoast_head":"\nBack to Bouncin': UCF Football Returned to Pre-pandemic Experience for 2021 Season<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UCF's 2021 season opener was one to remember with return to the full game day experience and the start of the Gus Malzahn era.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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