from the <a href='http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/knights/orl-sptucf11081104aug11,1,4658937.story?coll=orl-sports-headlines' target='_blank'>Orlando Sentinel</a>

Quote:UCF offensive coordinator Tim Salem was surprised Sunday when he picked up the newspaper and discovered one of his jobs had been done for him. UCF, it seemed, had picked its starting quarterback.

Salem, in his first year at the school, read that the starting job "is Steven Moffett's to lose."

Not according to Salem.

"That's an inaccurate statement," Salem said. "It's Steve Moffett's job to work, earn and secure. He's got more work to do."

But regardless of who starts at quarterback, the specter of new UCF Coach George O'Leary more than overshadows the first season P.R. -- Post Ryan.

Ryan Schneider's career ended three games prematurely in November when he was suspended for signing a professor's name to a permission slip to miss class while on road trips. He still exited as the school's No. 2 career passing leader (10,976 yards, 82 touchdowns), behind Daunte Culpepper.

Despite the ending, replacing Schneider isn't going to be an easy task. He turned on UCF's offense as easily as he fired up his truck.

UCF's new offense is a West Coast model, and O'Leary and Salem are less concerned about passing yards than controlling the line of scrimmage, making good decisions and winning.

"I don't know all of George O'Leary's offense, but I know all that he's taught me," Moffett said.

Salem is determined to stage a competitive quarterback derby through the preseason. He called Brandon Sumner, a junior from Daytona Beach's Mainland High, "probably right now the best student of the game we've got." And, he reminded, the difference between Sumner and Moffett is not that many college snaps -- and just 37 pass attempts. Freshman Kyle Israel, from University High, is the other scholarship quarterback on UCF's roster.

Moffett, who signed with UCF out of Winter Park High, was supposed to redshirt last season, but after Schneider was dismissed, Moffett started the Knights' final three games of 2003. He also emerged from spring practice atop the depth chart.

Moffett's hold on the job was strengthened when backup Gerry Connell left the program after a disagreement with O'Leary about Connell's summer schedule. Connell said he needed to work, teammates said, and O'Leary wanted him to work out.

When the Knights started their summer skeleton drills -- five-on-five and seven-on-seven passing drills with quarterbacks, running backs and receivers vs. linebackers and defensive backs -- Moffett was first in line. Sumner and Israel followed.

As Moffett gained more of a command of his footwork and Salem's offensive system, his polish rubbed off in another area. O'Leary and Salem want a quarterback with an edge. Coming out of spring, Moffett was full of hushed tones and smiles. As two-a-days loom, he sounds halfway home.

"I got comfortable around the guys," Moffett said. "At first I didn't want to go off on them because I didn't know how they would respond to me because I was so young. But now every time I ask them to do something, they respond."

At the end of UCF's first day on the field Monday, tight ends coach Eric Green patted Moffett on the back and told him he was better in the huddle than he was at the end of the spring.

"Steve, he's not a very mean person," senior wide receiver Tavaris Capers said. "He's a happy person. He's a friendly person. I don't know if he can ever be mean, a person smiling like that. But he's going to be a great leader."

O'Leary takes a cautious approach with Moffett. He denied some preseason photo requests and sit-down TV interviews of the quarterback, instead directing the media to seniors.

"He's still very young, and this is very much a process of daily work, daily coaching," Salem said. "He needs to put some roots in the ground and grow. We need to sprinkle some Miracle-Gro around him."

Or just feed him more protein shakes.

Moffett left spring practice weighing 190 pounds. Four months later, before a recent bout of strep throat, he was up to 213. Even with a sickness-induced drop of 5 pounds, the growth in his arms and chest is evident.

It's the inside growth the Knights need the most. When Schneider was suspended for the final three games, former coach Mike Kruczek asked Moffett if he wanted to give up his redshirt season.

Moffett's answer: "Absolutely."

The Knights went 0-3 in that span, with Moffett getting a crash course in game-day speed and mental acuity. He was 21-of-41 for 168 yards, two interceptions and two touchdowns. (Sumner saw limited time against Ohio University, going 1-of-4.) Moffett's big highlight was a 55-yard run for a touchdown against Marshall, UCF's longest run from scrimmage of the year.

"He was lost out there sometimes," Capers said. "As a freshman, he had the jitters."

Moffett agrees with that assessment.

"I got in the huddle, I couldn't remember things," he said. "I wasn't sure, the other guys weren't sure, and I was supposed to know."

He does not regret giving up a redshirt season. He has little experience, but at least he has some as the Knights prepare for their Sept. 4 opener at Wisconsin.

"I know what I'm getting into this year," he said. "I don't know about playing in front of 70,000. I haven't done that yet. But I want it to happen more than once, so it's got to happen a first time."

For that, he must win the job.

"If he just improved 2 percent a day between now and Wisconsin, he will have improved a bunch," Salem said. "Just a little a day is all you need."

That's interesting that Tim Salem said Brandon Sumner is the "best student of the game" right now. I suspect that Moffett will still win the starting job, but it sounds like Salem doesn't want to make it too easy for him. Sumner does, I guess, have one advantage over Moffett: He transferred from Georgia Tech, so he had some time to learn a little about George O'Leary's system while he was there. Still, I think Moffett is the most athletically gifted quarterback the team has and may very well exhibit the most leadership of any of the quarterbacks.