Knights All Weekend

UCF football fans will surely be watching the Knights take on the Miami Hurricanes Saturday afternoon, either at Dolphins Stadium or at home on ESPNU. Your Knights football viewing shouldn’t end Saturday evening as there’s an intriguing matchup involving several Knights on Sunday afternoon, as the Jacksonville Jaguars travel to Denver to take on the Broncos.

This matchup between these two AFC teams will involve three former UCF Knights who are becoming standouts on their respective teams, at their respective positions. For the visiting Jaguars, wide receiver Mike Walker is coming off his best game as a pro as he caught six passes for 107 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night. Walker has 11 catches in his last two games off the bench, and he is quickly becoming a special teams star for the Jags. Walker’s special teams acumen may suffer as he gets more playing time, and with his smooth route running and strong hands, he is quickly becoming quarterback David Garrard’s go to guy.

The wide receiver that everyone will be talking about in this game will not be Walker, but Denver’s Brandon Marshall. The former UCF Knight has taken the league by storm, catching 34 passes for 423 yards and three touchdowns on the season. Marshall is second in the NFL in receiving yards per game, averaging 105.8, and is third in the league in receptions. Marshall’s presence has helped propel Denver to the second-ranked offense in the entire NFL and a 4-1 record which leads the AFC West.

A third key contributor in Sunday’s game will be former UCF kicker Matt Prater, who now does his work for the Broncos. Prater won the Denver kicking job in preseason and has excelled in the high altitude and thin air. It was said that Prater kicked a 68-yard field goal in practice which cleared the bar with room to spare. Prater has the longest field goal in the league this year at 56 yards, and is second in the NFL with 12 field goals made. His strong leg has allowed him to boot 11 touchbacks, which ties him for the NFL lead.

The Jaguars-Broncos game will begin at 4:05 and will be shown on CBS. If you’re in the mood to watch another early game involving a former Knight, Kevin Smith and his Detroit Lions will take on the Minnesota Vikings at 1:00. Smith leads the dysfunctional Lions in rushing yards and scored his second touchdown of his career last Sunday.