The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • S4

S4 Orlando Sentinel Thursday, August 24, 2017 Thursday, August 24, 2017 Orlando Sentinel S5 There's No Place Like Spectrum Stadium New Stuff Knights embrace their own place after years of 'home' games away They don't quite understand when you try to tell them the story of what UCF football used to be like in the dark ages before their home stadium was built Today's players look at you like you're crazy when you tell them about that first UCF game played on a goat ranch near Tampa back in 1979 when the Knights were an upstart Division III outfit of misfits. Former UCF coach George O'Leary says now with his signature blunt-ness, "Today's players don't know how lucky they are." One of those players, linebacker Shaquem Griffin, acknowledges as Mike Bianchi Sentinel Columnist much. After a recent practice, he looks over at Spectrum Stadium and talks to it as if it's a person. "We love her. I'd hate to think where we would be without UCF is adding a new video board, adjusting the student section so that it spans the lower levels behind both goal posts and expanding its premium seating throughout Spectrum Stadium in a push to upgrade the fan experience while bringing in more money for the program.

The Carl Black Gold Cabana on the east side of the stadium was expanded during the offseason. It features an air conditioned bar and lounge areajust off the Knights' concourse and underneath the traditional stadium seats. Fans can step outside the covered area to watch the game from tall tables overlooking the field or go to their traditional chair-back seats with cup holders. The cabana seats were priced at $900 per person in 2015 and 2016, but that price has dropped to $500 per person and food will not be included as it was previously. UCF is adding club seating to the west side, with prices increasing from a range of $17 to $39 per ticket per game for season ticket holders.

The school has converted 3,500 seats from bench-back to chair-back seating with armrests and cup holders for the new west side club that expands to sectionsl08-112 and 209-211. In addition to upgraded seating, the school will convert the lower and upper concourse to a private club area that includes private restrooms, multiple bars, TV monitors and large fans. The Knights added 18 field cabanas to the north and south end zones, offering a select group of fans closer views of the game action. The cabanas have sold out. to? yfe- wSSSSSSSbBSwk Jlilfe Ml.

ISSHMH'i mfflm 'will 8b Stadium Info Spectrum Stadium Address: 4465 Knights Victory Way, Orlando Parking: UCF's gold zone parking closest to the stadium is reserved for fans who purchase parking passes, while free parking is available in the blue zone on the northwest sector of campus. The preferred campus entrances for blue zone parking are on Alafaya Trail at Gemini Boulevard North, Centaurus Drive or University Boulevard. Tickets: Season tickets start at $99 and single-game tickets start at $45. They can be purchased by calling 407-823-1000 or visiting UCFAthletics.com. Ask some of the old-time players and coaches and they will tell you exactly where UCF would be without the stadium They can tell you this because they've already been there.

They know what it was like before President John Hitt and some of the school's top donors decided to pursue building an on-campus stadium They will tell you about the first team and the first practice back in 1979 when there was no expansive indoor facility, palatial locker rooms, state-of-the-art training complex and plans to build a lazy river. Back then, there were no scholarships let alone diva lackers who would give up their scholarship to become a YouTube star. According to an article written by former Sentinel columnist Larry Guest, there were 148 who showed for UCF's first practice in 1979 among them, "a bartender, a beekeeper, a bouncer and a guy who boasted experience with a team that had placed second in a flag football league." They had to buy their own shoes and socks and jerseys and jocks. The players had to pay their own way and Don Jonas, UCF's first head coach, was an unpaid volunteer who had a full-time job working for the city. Their first game was at Saint Leo College in 1979, literally played during a summertime rain storm in a field that was once a cow pasture.

O'Leary, before he retired two years ago, would often hear from former UCF players who thanked him for helping shepherd their school into the modern era of college football. "Whenever I talked to the old-time players, they would be so appreciative of how far we'd come as a program," O'Leary says. The Knights used to play their games in the cavernous and dilapidated old Citrus Bowl a stadium that was way too big for UCF's fan base and way too far away from campus for UCF's student body. "Every game," O'Leary recalls, "was like an away game." To make matters worse, UCF felt unappreciated in the city-operated Citrus Bowl. Hitt told me the story once of why he decided to pursue an on-campus stadium The final slap in the face from the city came when the Citrus Bowl added a new video board several years ago and former UCF athletics director Steve Orsini was trying to negotiate a share of the advertising revenue for UCF.

"There was a take-UCF-for-granted attitude," Hitt remembered. "When Steve was talking about a share of revenues on the new video board, he was told the value of UCF's fans was nothing zero. That didn't sit too well with us and got us looking in other directions." Hitt has said many times the stadium would have never been built without the aggressiveness and acumen of big-time booster Jerry Roth. When UCF first studied building the new stadium, the estimated cost was an unaffordable $130 million. Roth, an astute businessman who made his millions in pharmaceuticals, did his own study and found that pre-engineered stadiums could be erected for a little more than $50 million.

And, so, Bright House Networks (now Spectrum) Stadium was built and the historic first game against Texas was played on Sept 15, 2007. The storied Longhorns eked out a dramatic 35-32 victory that, a decade later, O'Leary still laments, "If we don't fumble the ball, we win that game." UCF may have lost on the scoreboard, but that landmark day symbolized perhaps the biggest victory in UCF athletic history. I remember walking through the tailgate lots that day and seeing out-of-town alumni who hadn't been on campus for a generation and frat boys and sorority girls who had never before been to a home football game. STAFF FILE PHOTO An on-campus stadium gives fans a place to gather and cheer on their Knights. Before 2007, UCF played at what is now Camping World Stadium.

Eddie Garcia, a senior majoring in molecular microbiology, wore black and gold face paint and a cape that said, "Welcome to the Longhorn Slaughterhouse." "We finally have a home a real home," Garcia said then. "I'm happy because I'm here to experience this, but I'm sad because this makes me wish I was a freshman all over again I'd love to be here for another four years." Said then-UCF starting quarterback Kyle Israel: "In 20 years, when I come back here to watch games, it's going to feel special to know I played in the first game in this place. Nobody can ever take that away." Current UCF assistant coach Sean Beckton was a star receiver for UCF in the 1980s and was in the new stadium as a fan on that historic, euphoric day in 2007. "It was an unbelievable feeling being there and having that sense of pride as our team ran onto the field," Beckton recalls. "It was an emotional moment" Beckton is now the recruiting coordinator under head coach Scott Frost and he says the stadium and the surrounding football complex has been a major factor in UCF being able to attract the attention of so many more high-level prospects.

He says many recruits are wide-eyed when they see how plush and palatial UCF's facilities are. "The stadium is huge for us," Frost says. "Having a stadium where students and alumni congregate on campus is not only important for the football team but for the entire university. Having our own stadium separates us from our rival down south (USF)." Says linebacker Shaquem Griffin: "You take great pride in being able to call something your home. It's like my childhood home in St Pete.

If somebody comes to your house, you're going to do whatever you can to protect it If somebody barges into your home, opens your refrigerator and starts drinking your milk, you're going to have a problem with that Everybody's welcome to come in, but in the end, they better remember whose home it is." Griffin is absolutely right An on-campus stadium symbolizes a house, a haven and, mostly, a home. And isn't home such an amazing place because of the people who live there with you? It's a place to share and a place to care. A place to love and be proud of. A place to protect and a place to respect I don't know who exactly said this, but whoever it was must have been a college football fan: "Home is not a place; it's a mbianchiorlandosentinel.com Iliana Limon Romero Goldenrod (41Z) RED HUBERSTAFF FILE PHOTO UCF opened its new stadium Sept. 15, 2007, with a game against then-No.

6 Texas, above. The Knights came close to pulling off an upset but fell 35-32 at what was then called Bright House Networks Stadium. 5 Largest Home Crowds 5 Most Memorable Moments 5 Fun Facts AJoout the Staclrum 46,103: Nov. 3, 2007. Before UCF joined the same conference as USF, Marshall was arguably the Dec.

4, 2010: UCF defeated SMU, winning the second conference title in school history. During the postgame celebration in front of an announced crowd of 41,045 fans, the Knights accepted an invitation to play in the Liberty Bowl. UCF would go on to earn alO-6 win over Georgia in the Dec.l, 2007: UCF running back Kevin Smith, right, helped lead the Knights to a 44-25 win over Tulsa, clinching the Knights' first conference championship in school history in front of an announced home crowd of 44,128. Sept. 15, 2007: UCF kicks off a new era, hosting then-No.

6 Texas during the first game played in the Knights' on-campus stadium. The Knights nearly pulled off an upset before falling 35-32 to the Longhorns. Nov. 29, 2013: After going 0-4 against rival USF, UCF finally joined the same conference as the Bulls and earned regular meetings with the team. The Knights earned a 23-20 win over the Bulls, claiming their first victory in the series during a season that ended with a Fiesta Bowl victory.

48,543: Oct. 17, 2009. UCF hosted then-No. 9 Miami, falling 27-7 to the Hurricanes. Wake Forest transfer QB Brett Hodges led the Knights, who won eight games and lost to Rutgers in the St.

Petersburg Bowl. 47,605: Sept. 28, 2013. UCF nearly pulled off an upset, falling 28-25 to South Carolina. It was the only loss QB Blake Bortles and the Knights suffered, with the team later winning an AAC title and the Fiesta Bowl.

46,805: Sept. 6, 2008. The War on 1-4 didn't start off on a positive note for UCF. The Knights' most widely attended home game against the Bulls resulted in a 31-24 loss. It was a relatively competitive contest during a season in which UCF only managed four wins.

UCF leaders argued the Knights needed an on-campus stadium to help provide a more intense game-day atmosphere than they had at cavernous Camping World Stadium. Since the opening of Spectrum Stadium, the Knights have won four conference championships two in Conference USA and two in the American. UCF athletics director Danny White is eager to renovate the area surrounding Spectrum Stadium to provide better amenities for athletes and help the Knights compete for top recruits. The element that got the most national attention during the offseason was a proposed lazy river. The Knights continue to seek donations for a variety of projects in the Kenneth Dixon Athletic Village, which White said will be completely privately funded.

Iliana Limon Romero UCF's home stadium opened in 2007 and there already have been multiplerenovations, with the UCF Athletics Association spending $8 million following the 2014 season and continuously working to upgrade club seating. Original construction plans included the possibility of expanding the stadium from its initial capacity of 45,323 to 65,000 seats. Three consecutive athletics directors determined expansion of premium seating would generate more revenue than overall expansion of the venue and capacity has now dipped to 44,206 to make room for premium seating amenities. The stadium has been dubbed "The Bounce House" because the stadium often vibrates and shakes when fans jump up and down in unison. The sway has been most notable whenever the school plays Zombie Nation's "Kernkraft 400." Knights' top rival.

UCF clearly turned a corner in its development when the Knights pummeled the Thundering Herd 47-13 en route to winning the 2007 Conference USA title. 45,952: Nov. 29, 2013. While the Fiesta Bowl victory was epic, the Knights' 23-20 home win over rival USF during the record-setting 2013 season was especially sweet. After years of embarrassing losses to the Bulls, the Knights delivered a knockout punch in front of a delighted home crowd.

Above: Mascot Knightro bowl. Sept. 24, 2005: Before moving to Spectrum Stadium, the Knights competed in what was then known as the Citrus Bowl. UCF snapped the nation's longest losing streak with a 23-13 win over the Thundering Herd. Fans celebrated by taking down the goalposts.

UCF went on to claim eight wins and a Hawaii Bowl bid. 3.