UCF Knights football make long awaited returns to the Swamp armed with SEC experience

ORLANDO — Though he did his best to conceal any sort of emotions or nostalgia Monday, UCF wide receiver Trent Whittemore realizes his college football career comes full circle this weekend.

A Gainesville native, Whittemore played 29 games over parts of four seasons for Florida — the Knights ' upcoming opponent at 7:45 p.m. Saturday. His mother, Missy, was an All-SEC volleyball player for the Gators , while father Mark caught passes from UCF quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw during the Knights' Division I-AA days in the mid-1990s.

Whittemore started the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl for the Gators, the last time the two Sunshine State schools clashed head-to-head — a 29-17 UCF win and a landmark moment for the program prior to joining the Big 12 Conference. He joined the Knights two years later after redshirting and entering the transfer portal during Billy Napier 's debut campaign on the sidelines.

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"It will feel a little weird, for sure, after putting so much time in at UF," Whittemore said. "I had a great four years there, so it will be some conflicting feelings, I'm sure, as I walk through the stadium. But I'm really excited to go play on Saturday."

Whittemore knows firsthand what it sounds like inside the Swamp , and he's not alone on the UCF roster — experience that could prove valuable in UCF's first road trip to Gainesville since 2006. It's the first meeting of a scheduled three-game series between the schools; with UCF set to host in 2030, and the Gators getting a return home date in 2033.

Last November, UCF quarterback KJ Jefferson led Arkansas to its first SEC win of the 2023 season in Gainesville, a 39-36 overtime battle . He completed 20 of 31 passes for 255 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and added 92 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.

"It's going to be a fun, elite atmosphere," Jefferson said following the Knights' 48-21 home defeat to Colorado. "They're a great team in the SEC. We've got to put our best foot forward and go out there and execute at a high level, and don't make this game more than what it is.

"We've got to go out and play our brand of football and have fun doing it. When adversity hits us, we've got to make sure that we stick together."

Fellow team captain Ethan Barr faced the Gators twice in the Swamp, registering 11 tackles, 1½ tackles for loss and a sack for Vanderbilt. Chauncey Magwood tallied the longest reception of his Kentucky career in Gainesville, a 25-yard grab two seasons ago as a true sophomore.

As for UCF coach Gus Malzahn , he brought Auburn to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium only once during his eight-year run on the Plains. The Gators emerged victorious, 24-13, in a 2019 showdown of then-undefeated teams, a game in which Kam Martin — the Knights' current running backs coach — had 29 yards on five attempts.

"It's going to be loud, there's no doubt about that," said Malzahn, who presided over UCF's aforementioned Gasparilla Bowl triumph against the Gators. "We're going to have to handle the noise and everything that goes with it.

"2019 was off-the-charts loud. I do remember that. It went down to the very end, and they had a really good team. … We expect it to be especially loud, being an in-state opponent. Our guys understand that. We've got a lot of veterans who have played a lot of football in big environments, obviously Trent being one of them. Hopefully that will help us."

Florida's home atmosphere quickly turned toxic during lopsided losses to Miami and Texas A&M within the first three weeks. That pair of Power Five opponents routed the Gators by a combined score of 74-37, including a 44-10 margin in the first halves of those contests.

Billy Napier — with a 13-16 coaching record since taking over in 2022 — has drawn the overwhelming majority of the fans' ire , and a home loss to UCF off a bye week could prove the final straw despite a reported $26 million buyout cost.

Malzahn, no stranger to the pressure-cooker environment within the SEC, is focused on seeing internal improvement and a response from his squad after experiencing the highest of highs (the 35-34 comeback win at TCU) and the lowest of lows (the stunning 27-point home loss to Colorado). UCF started 3-0 in its debut campaign as a Big 12 member but followed that with a five-game losing streak.

"The way we played, we need to redeem ourself," Malzahn said. "It's another opportunity. It just so happens that (Florida) is the next ones on the schedule.

"It's important as far as recruiting, there's no doubt about it, and the big picture. … Coming off the type of loss that we had, this is going to be about us. And we need to get our stuff together and play good football. It's a big opportunity."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football make long awaited returns to the Swamp armed with SEC experience