During the offseason, UCF worked hard to improve its play on special teams. During Saturday's game against the FIU Panthers, the Knights showed all of that hard work during the summer is paying off.

Punter Jamie Boyle dropped all five of his punts inside the FIU 20-yard line. That punting coverage combined with good kicking coverage, allowed UCF to put pressure on the FIU offense and dominate field of position for much of the contest.

"That creates good momentum for us," senior defensive back Kemal Ishmael said of the special teams creating good field position.

It wasn't just the special team, either .The talented sophomore duo of J.J. Worton and Rannell Hall also helped put the Knights in great field position. Worton returned four punts for 48 yards and Hall returned three kickoffs for 96 yards. Hall had a 44-yard return in the second half.

"That's something they've done for a while now," sophomore quarterback Blake Bortles said of the special teams."When they do stuff like that it helps us out tremendously."

Junior wide receiver Jeff Godfrey helped reward Worton for his hard work by tossing him a touchdown pass after a handoff from senior Rob Calabrese.

"It was great out there," Godfrey said. "The defense did a great job of stopping those guys and making them punt. J.J. Worton had some nice punt returns and the field position was great."