WATCH: UCF Knights to Take On Florida A&M Aug. 29 to Open 2019 Football Campaign

Knights return 39 letter winners and 13 starters from last year’s team, which went 12-1

SPACE COAST DAILY TV: UCF Knights wide receivers, former Viera Hawks Football standouts Tre Nixon and Devin Nixon talked with the Friday Night Locker Room’s Steve Wilson after practice on Friday about playing together again at the University of Central Florida and the outlook for UCF’s 2019 season. Last season Tre played in and started all 13 games and caught 40 passes for 562 yards and four touchdowns. Devin is a redshirt senior who came from Western Kentucky to play for the Knights.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Football fans rejoice — the Knights return to the field this month. The reigning back-to-back American Athletic Conference Champions are the favorites to claim the league trophy once again, and they start their 2019 campaign at home Aug. 29 against Florida A&M on CBS Sports Network.

The two teams will meet for the first time since 1987.

The Knights return 39 letter winners and 13 starters from last year’s team, which went 12-1 — the second-best record in program history — and finished the year ranked 11th in the Associated Press’ national rankings and 12th in the Amway Coaches Poll.

UCF begins this year ranked 17th in the country as one of two programs from the state of Florida to appear among the top 25.

Although the team’s historic 25-game win streak snapped at the Fiesta Bowl in January, the team is still riding some streaks into this season:

• UCF holds a school-record 15-game winning streak at home in Spectrum Stadium.
• UCF has scored at least 30 points in 26 straight games, which is the longest run by any team in college football over the last eight decades.
• UCF has forced at least one turnover in its last 32 games, dating back to 2016, a streak that leads the nation.

Whether you’ll be attending your first Knights game or have been a longtime season ticket holder, this complete game day guide will help you live your best fan life.

First Game

• Florida A&M | Thursday, Aug. 29 | 7:30 p.m. | CBS Sports Network
  • Classes on the main campus, in the Central Florida Research Park, at UCF Downtown, at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management and on the UCF Connect campuses will conclude at 2 p.m. Offices at those locations also will close for normal operations at 2 p.m. in order to allow adequate time for a smooth transition to game day activities.
  • Regular university parking policies will be in effect until 2 p.m.
  • In order to provide students with additional time to study, the John C. Hitt Library will remain open until 5 p.m.
  • Some staff members may be required to work past the time when the university closes. In those cases, employees can speak with their supervisors about how their areas will handle operations after 2 p.m.

• UCF will re-open for normal business operations, including regular class and activity schedules, at 6 a.m. Friday, Aug. 30. Staff members whose regular work hours begin prior to 6 a.m. should consult with their supervisors about starting times.

Saturday Classes

During Saturday game days, UCF will conduct morning classes. Afternoon classes will be canceled, and classroom buildings will be locked at noon.

Faculty and staff members with keys may access the buildings after noon if they are conducting official business. However, they are advised to make sure that doors remain locked after they enter/exit. Students may not access classroom buildings after noon on Saturday game days.

UCF will reserve parking lot B4 for staff and faculty members conducting official university business on campus.

For more information about official university business parking, contact Peter Wallace at 407-823-3612 or peter.wallace@ucf.edu

Tickets

Tickets for Knights’ home games in 2019 are going to be difficult to come by. For the first time in school history, UCF has sold its entire season-ticket allotment.

Minimal inventory remains based on extremely limited single-game tickets and some flexibility given the uncertainty of visiting team allotment use. If any single-game tickets are available, they can be purchased on the football tickets webpageon ucfknights.com.

Unprecedented demand for UCF football tickets has prompted the athletic department for the first time to create a formal waiting list for future season tickets.

Call 407-823-1000 (option 1) or log onto ucfknights.co/2020waitlist to register your interest.

All those individuals will be provided first access, in order of registration, at any future point that additional seating inventory comes available (either general admission or premium seat options).

– Student Passes
Admission to home games are free for UCF students, but passes must be claimed through the UCFStudentTix.com prior to game day.

Claiming a free student pass does not guarantee entry as admission is first-come, first-served.

• Step 1: To claim your free pass, log into UCFStudentTix.com using your Knights email. Note: All UCF students are allowed to claim a pass. To reiterate, claiming a pass to a game does not guarantee entry and early arrival is encouraged.
• Step 2: Opt-in for receiving messages. A text will be sent to your phone on Monday morning of game week to accept your seat. There is no assigned seating as the student section is first-come, first served.
• Step 3: Once you arrive at the gate, you must have your phone in order to scan the ticket barcode, *AND* you must show your student ID for entry into the stadium.

Student guest passes can also be claimed through the service. To claim a guest pass (one per UCF student), a separate text message will be sent Monday of game week.

Guest pass pricing will be $28 through the platform at any time of the day, or $25 through the Addition Financial Arena box office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on game weeks.

Know Your Gate Entry

It is important to know your gate before entering Spectrum Stadium. The appropriate gate is listed on your game ticket. Fans can also locate their gate, which is broken down by stadium section, listed in the graphic above.

Note: Gate 15 no longer exists as a point of entry due to the new Garvy Center for Student-Athlete Nutrition.

Clear Bag Policy

To provide a safer environment and more expedited entry for fans, UCF abides by a clear bag policy that limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into all sporting events at Spectrum Stadium.

It is strongly recommended you familiarize yourself with the policy if you plan on attending a game to learn what is and is not permitted inside the stadium.

Parking and Shuttles

Free parking is available for fans on a first-come, first-served basis in certain lots and garages on campus. The Gold Zone lots near the stadium require a game day parking permit.

Note: Residential lots are reserved at all times for students living on campus.

Garages C, D and F; Baseball Lot; Lots C1-C3, D1-D2 and E1-E8 (Gold Zone permit required):

• 8 a.m. for all Saturday games and USF game (Nov. 29)
• 3 p.m. for the FAMU game on Thursday, Aug. 29

All other campus lots:

• Six hours before kickoff, but no earlier than 8 a.m., for all Saturday games and USF game (Nov. 29)
• 3 p.m. for the FAMU game on Thursday, Aug. 29

UCF will continue to offer $20 cash parking in Garage H on game days, which will be available to all fans. The proceeds fund first-generation scholarships.

– Accessible Parking
New for the 2019 season, parking for guests with disabilities has moved to the first level of Garage C to more than double the number of available spaces. Parking for guests with disabilities is available with a proper Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles permit on a first-come, first-served basis.

The individual who was issued the permit must be with the vehicle. Garage C is located at the intersection of North Orion Boulevard and Scorpius Street. A free shuttle for patrons with disabilities and fans who accompany them will be provided from the bus stop adjacent to Garage C to Spectrum Stadium (Gate 14).

Those shuttles will run from three hours prior to kickoff until two hours after kickoff. Throughout the game and postgame, shuttles will be available, picking up from Gate 14, to return patrons with disabilities to Garage C.

Additional accessible parking spaces are available throughout the campus, and these spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis to any guest with a disability who displays an authorized Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles permit; however, no direct shuttle service will be available for these spaces.

For more details regarding game day parking and traffic, visit ucfknights.com

Shuttles

Fans can avoid game-day traffic by parking at Research Pavilion and catching a Park and Ride shuttle.

Fans may park at the Research Pavilion building, located at 12424 Research Parkway in the Central Florida Research Park adjacent to campus, and be transported to the Research 1 Transit drop-off, adjacent to Garage C near Memory Mall.

The shuttles start four hours before kickoff and end two hours after the game ends.

Shuttles will continue to pick up students from all the apartment complexes around campus that are normally serviced, except for NorthView, Tivoli and Northgate because of their proximity to the stadium. Student shuttles start five hours before kickoff and end two hours after the game ends.

UCF Downtown 
Student shuttles operate from the UCF Downtown Campus to the Lynx Transit Center three and five hours prior to kickoff and depart UCF main campus 2 hours and 30 minutes and four hours after kickoff.

For the Aug. 29 game, there will be a 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. departure from UCF Downtown and 10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. departure from UCF Lynx Transit Center. A valid UCF ID is required to access UCF Downtown shuttles.

Rosen College 
For weekend games, student shuttles from the Rosen College of Hospitality Management depart the Rosen campus four hours prior to kickoff.

The shuttle leaves campus to return to the Rosen College 4 hours and 30 minutes after kickoff from the Student Union shuttle stop. For the August 29th game, shuttles will depart Rosen College at 3:30 p.m. and leave the main campus at midnight. A valid UCF ID is required to access UCF Rosen shuttles.

 Palm Valley 
Shuttles pick up passengers from the Palm Valley community 1 hour and 30 minutes and 1 hour prior to kickoff. Shuttles depart campus 3 hours and 45 minutes after kickoff from stadium gate 13.

For more details regarding shuttles, visit ucfknights.com

WATCH LIVE! Catch all the Viera vs. Cocoa play-by-play action Friday night on Space Coast Daily TV starting at 6 p.m. 

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