ORLANDO, Fla. — This column is not meant for all of you reasonable, logical and sensible UCF fans who root for the Knights to win, get disappointed when they lose, but understand that winning every game in college football is almost a mathematical impossibility.
No, this column is meant for the vocal minority of illogical, irrational, irresponsible UCF fans who say stupid, hurtful things on social media and make the coaches, players and their families feel terrible.
After UCF lost to Louisville on superstar quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s last-second interception that was returned for a touchdown, the viral, volatile reaction gave us a sad glimpse at the ugly underbelly of college football fandom in the social media era.
As Gabriel was being helped off the field after breaking his left collarbone on the final desperation play of the game and UCF coach Gus Malzahn and his players dejectedly trudged into the locker room following the defeat, the lunatic fringe of UCF fans were losing their minds on numerous social media platforms.
A sampling of what these purported fans were putting out for public consumption:
“Dillon Gabriel is a fraud.”
“Dillon has never won a big game.”
“I’m off the Gus Bus.”
“This is the same crap Gus did at Auburn.”
“Worst play-calling ever.”
“I’m done with them after this.”
“The whole season is ruined.”
It’s idiotic tweets like these that help me sort of understand former Orlando City coach Jason Kreis, who told me once that he despised social media because “it gives too many people too big of an outlet to have their opinions.”
How did we get to this place, UCF fans?
How did we get to this place where one fluky loss is unacceptable?
There’s no question that the best thing that ever happened to UCF football was the back-to-back unbeaten seasons in 2017-2018.
I’m also starting to believe that the worst thing that ever happened to UCF football was the back-to-back unbeaten seasons in 2017-2018.
Why? Because there are too many UCF fans who now believe winning all your games is actually a realistic expectation. Certainly, going undefeated should be a pie-in-the-sky goal, but it should never, ever be the expectation.
Do you know how many times the Florida Gators — the state’s oldest and most traditional program — has finished unbeaten in their 109 years of playing college football?
None.
The late, great Bobby Bowden, one of the greatest college football coaches who ever lived, finished unbeaten just once.
Nick Saban, commonly recognized as THE greatest college football coach of all-time, has finished unbeaten just twice.
In the 10 years before COVID-19 from 2010-2019, only seven teams went though an entire season and postseason unbeaten. With 130 teams in the FBS multiplied by 10 seasons, that’s a grand total of 1,300 seasons with only seven unbeaten teams. By my math, that means there is a 99.46% chance your team WON’T finish unbeaten over a 10-year period, but some half-baked UCF fans think it should happen every season.
It’s unfathomable to me that there are actually UCF fans who believe it’s unacceptable to lose a non-conference road game to an ACC team like Louisville.
Did you know Louisville annually spends about $150 million on its athletic program, which is about twice the amount UCF spends ($75 million).
Did you know Louisville, according to the national recruiting rankings compiled by 247sports.com, has signed significantly better recruiting classes than UCF in four of the last five seasons?
So I ask again: Why is it unacceptable for UCF to lose to bigger, richer program with more resources, better facilities and higher-ranked recruiting classes?
Shouldn’t such a loss almost be expected?
Is Louisville a great team and a great program? No.
But guess what? Neither is UCF. The Knights were 6-4 last season, got annihilated in a bowl game by BYU and had one of the worst defenses in the country.
And here’s the thing: UCF still almost won the game against Louisville even though multiple starters were injured at one point during the game. The Knights played without their All-Conference center Matt Lee, who warmed up but could not go. During the course of the game, they lost their best running back (Isaiah Bowser), their best receiver (Jaylon Robinson), their best linebacker (Tatum Bethune) as well as starting defensive tackle Ricky Barber and starting cornerback Corey Thornton.
Do you realize the ripple effect of losing that many starters during the course of a game and then trying to plug holes with players who are either less experienced or less talented?
And despite all of the injuries, UCF would have probably won the game if not for a fluke pick 6 that bounced off receiver Amari Johnson and into the hands of Louisville’s Jaylin Alderman, who took it 66 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
But that’s beside the point.
The Knights lost the game.
So what?
It was one meaningless early season loss that has absolutely no ramifications on the realistic expectations most of us had for UCF. It’s not like the Knights were ever going to be considered for the College Football Playoff. The program’s No. 1 goal this year and every year should be winning the conference championship.
Of course, that goal is now going to be much more difficult to attain with Gabriel likely out for the season and a number of other significant injuries lurking.
These are the times when a college football team needs to be boosted, not berated.
Any UCF fan who jumps off the Gus Bus after only three games was not really a fan at all.
