After years of work behind the scenes, long snapper Alex Ward and his specialist teammates were finally ready for their spotlight.
This season was a complete changing of the guard with every prior starter graduating. Ward inherited long snapping duties from Caleb Perez. Mac Loudermilk doubled as both punter and holder and he passed the torch to Andrew Osteen (punter) and Alex Harris (holder). And kicker Matt Wright, the all-time scoring leader in UCF history, provided some big shoes to fill for Dylan Barnas.
Specialists had been a question mark going into the season, but the group has been solid.
"Our whole special teams were brand new," Ward said. "Everybody took their first snap against FAMU. We were all on the same level. On Osteen's very first punt he shanked it out of bounds, so we were all like, 'Dude you're fine.' I had a good snap so I know he could do it. Barnas has been phenomenal. He's hitting out of this world. Alex Harris with the holds is lock-down. He never misses them."
Ward, a redshirt sophomore from Fort Walton Beach (Fla.) Choctawhatchee, enrolled at UCF prior to the 2017 season. While he was excited about the school's potential in football, it was UCF's engineering program and academic support that sold him.
"What really sold me is when we went to the ASSA building during the visit," Ward said. "Academic Services for Student Athletes. They had a specific study area. They had advisors for offense and defense. I was thinking, 'This is amazing.' I can have someone look over what I'm doing and help keep me on track. If I ever had a problem, they had tutors for every subject. Amazing setup. They have a three-story huge building all dedicated to student-athletes' academics."
As a mechanical engineering major who has to manage academics with football demands, Ward really appreciates the assistance available.
"It's super beneficial," Ward said. "My friends that aren't athletes are struggling in classes. They're hard classes, don't get me wrong, but I'm not having as hard of a time because I know exactly when I have to do my work. I have a physical class on top of my class. I go to class and then I go into ASSA and do my work. If you get a bad grade, one of the interns calls you. 'Hey, what's up. What happened on that test?' Every now and then they'll report your grade to the coaches. Not me personally, but they actively monitor some players' grades, pull up their web courses every day. It's a huge benefit."
Ward also works as an intern at Lockheed Martin.
"We have a mechanical engineering team and I'm working on packaging and systems engineering, the stress the strains on materials and structures," Ward said. "(A mechanical engineering degree) can take you anywhere. I want to get a master's degree in aerospace engineering because I'd love to get into fluid dynamics like plane flight."
His favorite game so far was the wild back-and-forth affair against South Florida in 2017.
"Mike Hughes took the kickoff back," Ward said. "I don't know if anybody remembers anymore, I had the huge fro on the sideline and went crazy. The video went viral. That was something. That was my favorite game."
One thing he's still waiting for is his first tackle. They can be rare to come by for long snappers, though Caleb Perez was able to post three takedowns last season.
"I'll run down and be right there and then he waves (for a fair catch)," Ward said. "I'm like, no way, I want to hit this guy."
Despite the two setbacks for a team not accustomed to losing, Ward said the focus remains strong.
"We're still just as dialed in if not more dialed in than ever," Ward said. "Pitt was sloppy in the first half. We didn't come out to play. We realized we needed to attack every opponent. We just had a couple things go the wrong way at Cincy. I think we're back on track. Everybody has been practicing hard. Jon Powell was about to die at practice today he was running so hard. We'll be fine."
