Junior linebacker Antoine Poe broke his left ankle on Wednesday during a voluntary offseason workout and is expected to miss the entire 2002 season. He is scheduled to undergo surgery this Friday.

Poe, a junior, has had an injury-plagued football career both at UCF and also in high school. Originally a member of UCF's 1999 recruiting class, Poe missed all but one game of his senior season at Lakeland-Kathleen HS after tearing the ACL in his knee. That delayed Poe's enrollment at UCF until January 2000. Last season Poe played in six games in a backup role and missed several games because of a hamstring problem. He missed much of this past spring because of a sprained MCL in his knee but had recovered fully over the summer.

Poe, who has yet to redshirt, was projected to start at will linebacker this season. Sophomore Stanford Rhule will now be expected to start instead and redshirt freshman Lemec Bernard may be counted on as a backup.