Claiming the inaugural American Athletic Conference title and its first trip to a BCS game, UCF laid its paws on two major awards while 11 Knights were placed on all-league teams Wednesday. Head Coach George O’Leary was unanimously selected as The American’s Coach of the Year and junior quarterback Blake Bortles was tagged as The American’s Offensive Player of the Year.

The awards were voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches. For a full list of awards, visit TheAmerican.org.

UCF’s Postseason Conference Honors

Coach of the Year: George O’Leary

Offensive Player of the Year: Blake Bortles

First Team

  • Blake Bortles – QB – Jr. – Oviedo, Fla. – 239-351, 22 TD, 7 INT, 3,280 YDS, 68.1 COMP%, 5 RUSH TD
  • Storm Johnson – RB – Jr. – Loganville, Ga. – 193 ATT, 1,015 YDS, 11 TD
  • Jordan McCray – OG – Sr. – Miami, Fla. – 12 STARTS
  • Justin McCray – OG – Sr. – Miami, Fla. – 12 STARTS
  • Jacoby Glenn – CB – Fr. – Prichard, Ala. – 43 TACK, 3.0 TFL, 2.0 SACK, 15 BRUP, 2 INT, 2 FF
  • Terrance Plummer – LB – Jr. – Orange Park, Fla. – 96 TACK, 8.0 TFL, 2.0 SACK, 6 BRUP, 2 INT, 2 FF

    • Second Team

  • Chris Martin – OT – Sr. – Fort Walton Beach, Fla. – 12 STARTS
  • William Stanback – RB – Fr. – Hempstead, N.Y. – 92 ATT, 410 YDS, 6 TD
  • J.J. Worton – WR – Jr. – Homestead, Fla. – 42 REC, 665 YDS, 7 TD
  • Clayton Geathers – S – Jr. – Hemingway, S.C. – 90 TACK, 4.5 TFL, 10 BRUP, 2 INT, 2 FF
  • Shawn Moffitt – PK – Jr. – Orlando, Fla. – 20-22 FG, 90.9 PCT, 50 LG, 42-42 PAT

    • Head Coach George O’Leary

  • O’Leary, a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award, picked up his fourth conference coach of the year accolade in 10 seasons as UCF’s head coach. Combined with his time at Georgia Tech, O’Leary now has six league awards in 17 campaigns as a collegiate head coach.
  • Only South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier (nine) and Kansas State’s Bill Snyder (seven) have more conference coach of the year trophies among active head coaches than O’Leary.
  • The leader of the Knights has guided the 2013 team to an 11-1 record and its first undefeated season in conference play at 8-0. The Black and Gold also has earned its highest ranking in all three major polls as it is No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25, the USA Today Coaches Poll and the BCS.
  • UCF did not receive votes in the AP Preseason Top 25, but it went on to tie the school record with 11 wins, and it will enter the bowl season on an eight-game winning streak, also a school record. The Knights are the youngest football program to reach a BCS game as their first season of football was in 1979.

    • With 11, UCF tied for the most players who received all-conference accolades. The Knights also placed both of their running backs, Storm Johnson (first team) and William Stanback (second team), on the all-conference teams. It marks the first time in school history UCF had two running backs earn all-league honors in the same season (first year in a league was in 2002 in the MAC).

    The Knights had six representatives on the first team, tying the 2007 and 2012 UCF teams for the most on a conference’s first unit.

    A native of Oviedo, Bortles stands as the only UCF signal-caller to be on a first or second team. He was on the All-Conference USA Second Team a year ago and on the C-USA All-Freshman Team in 2011.

    On special teams, Orlando’s Shawn Moffitt is the first UCF kicker to find his name on an all-league squad.

    Stanback and running back Kevin Smith (2005) are the only two freshmen offensive players to earn spots on an all-league first or second team. Meanwhile, cornerback Jacoby Glenn joins fellow corner Joe Burnett (2005), defensive end Bruce Miller (2007) and corner Josh Robinson (2009) as four freshmen defensive players who have been named to an all-conference first or second team. Add in kick returner Rannell Hall in 2011 and there have been seven freshmen to receive all-league honors.