This is from the <a href='http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/sports/article/0,2071,NPDN_15000_3104390,00.html' target='_blank'>Naples Daily News</a>. Nice to see that UCF gets coverage outside of the Orlando Metro.

Quote:College Football: Less multi-tasking for UCF's Prater
By ANDY KENT, ankent@naplesnews.com
August 12, 2004

ORLANDO — It's not often that the nation's leading collegiate punter and a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award returns the following season to find himself listed as second on the depth chart.

It's even less likely to find that same player on the preseason watch list for the Lou Groza Award, the national honor for kickers.

Meet Matt Prater, junior kicker for the University of Central Florida and a graduate of Estero High School.

At 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, Prater is one of the more muscular kickers you'll come across at any level, and definitely one of the toughest. He proved that last year as a sophomore for the Knights when he was willing to take over the punting duties.

Under then-head coach Mike Kruczek, who was relieved of his duties with two games left, Prater was asked to use a rugby style of punting. That's where he basically baited the nine or 10 oncoming rushers to chase him out of the pocket before kicking the ball on the run.

All he did was lead the nation with a 47.9-yard-per-punt average.

"(Having Prater punt) is not in my playbook right now, but I like it, I really do. And he does a good job of it," said George O'Leary, UCF's new head coach, who was head coach at Georgia Tech from 1995-2001. "But I went through all the tapes from last year and I think he may have done a great job punting but I think he hurt himself kicking."

Walk-on Aaron Horn has been handling the punting during the Knights' first week of practice, freeing up Prater to work closely with long snapper Max Reeves on field goals and kickoffs. As a sophomore last year, he was good on 10 of his 13 field-goal attempts (76.9 percent) and was a perfect 4-for-4 from 40 yards and beyond.

This season Prater has set his goals even higher, aiming for a 100 percent success rate on field goals and for 80 percent of his kickoffs to go for touchbacks.

With his name now more recognizable among opposing coaches, Prater knows the pressure will be higher.

"I can't wait for the season to start," Prater said after Tuesday's practice. "The only difference this year is I'm getting a little bit of hype coming into the season.

This year I've got expectations so I've got to pass those expectations and be better than that."

O'Leary, Reeves and special teams coach Dave Huxtable have plenty of confidence in Prater's ability to handle the pressure and to perform under any conditions.

Huxtable said after watching his kicker work during the spring he felt comfortable heading into the fall.

Reeves and Prater are roommates during road trips and are almost inseparable on the practice field and throughout the training complex. After Tuesday's practice, both players simultaneously lowered themselves into large garbage cans filled with ice and water.

"We work great together. He's my other half," said Reeves, a 6-2, 240-pound senior. "Some people pick it up real fast. Prater picked me up real fast, especially on field goals. He knows when I'm snapping and when to move. It usually takes a while, but he knows me and I know him. It's working out real well."

Adjusting to O'Leary's style and an entire new coaching staff has been different for the Knights, but in a good way according to Prater. He said they work harder, the schedule is more demanding and there is more of an emphasis on getting into the weight room, where Prater said his bench press has gone up 35 pounds.

The payoff comes when Prater and his teammates look in the mirror. He remembers his freshman year and his first game at Penn State, when he was 3-for-3 on field goals with a 53-yarder, and said the Nittany Lions player looked like men and the Knights looked like boys.

"Everybody's getting stronger.

We're going to look better and that's a good thing for our mentality," Prater said. "Now everybody knows we're bigger and stronger and look better so hopefully we compete better."

O'Leary said he likes Prater's competitive spirit and work ethic and the fact that he has "a little bit of wild hare in him, from what I can see." He also has noticed at times a "gleam" in Prater's eye and sees him as someone who relishes pressure situations.

Huxtable and Reeves also described Prater in a similar fashion, with Huxtable comparing him to some of the linebackers he also coaches. He said he is looking forward to getting to know Prater better.

"He's not a kicker on the inside," Reeves said. "His mentality, he's a 6-5, 250-pound linebacker with 4.1 speed, but he's a kicker nonetheless. He's cocky but he can be. He's good. He's one of the best kickers in the nation."

And one of the best punters, though O'Leary hopes he never has to show it.

That was a good article. Thanks for posting it. Nice pub from Southwest Florida.

As I'm sure many UCF fans are aware, Prater has been downgraded to no. 2 punter behind freshman walk-on Aaron Horne. O'Leary wants to use Prater strictly as a placekicker. Prater certainly has the leg for it; he hit a 53-yard field goal against Penn State in 2002.

UCF's coaching staff was, surprisingly, unaware of Horne being a student at UCF until just recently. Horne originally planned to transfer to Florida International and try out for the football team there, but decided to remain in Orlando rather than head to Miami.