Alex Haynes walked onto the Beaver Stadium grass in 2002, finally used to his surroundings.
Haynes was a sophomore for the University of Central Florida at the time and came into the season opener as the starting running back. Then-coach Mike Kruczek had relied on Haynes as a freshman and installed him as the feature back.
The Golden Knights played the Nittany Lions tight before losing 27-24 and signaled that the program was on the rise.
Haynes and the Knights are prepared to return to Beaver Stadium tomorrow but in a far less certain situation than two years ago. Haynes is one of the few holdovers from UCF's impressive performance against the Lions and the Knights never reached the level they had hoped following that game.
Back then, Haynes had a strong supporting cast and a mostly aerial offense around him, so he wasn't the normal target of opposing defenses. Big quarterback Ryan Schneider was the school's best arm since Daunte Culpepper and standout receiver Doug Gabriel was torching defenses.
In the 2002 game, Schneider threw for 345 yards and a touchdown and Gabriel hauled in 11 catches for 153 yards.
And though Tavaris Capers, the wideout who caught Schneider's touchdown is still on the squad, the Knights passing game is just a shell of what it used to be.
Different personnel, different game plan.
New Knights coach George O'Leary isn't even looking at the tape from 2002.
"No, I don't look at it," O'Leary said. "We have a four game breakdown from last year, and a two game breakdown on them this year. I'll pretty much base our game plan from that."
The Lions are fully expecting a different look from the Knights this year, with the spotlight being on Haynes and the run game.
The veteran back had 87 yards and a score in 2002 and has rushed for 204 yards and a touchdown in 2004 against two strong defenses in Wisconsin and West Virginia.
After a game against Boston College in which Andre Callender gained big chunks of yards by breaking off tackle, the Lions are most concerned with stopping Haynes tomorrow.
"He's a real good back," junior defensive end Tamba Hali said.
"He runs hard, he's a senior running back and he's determined to make plays. They're gonna come here and give him the ball. We can't let him run for over 100 yards, we can't let them run at all."
The weather forecast for today and tomorrow's game furthers the notion that the Knights will come out running. Two days filled with heavy rain from Hurricane Ivan have the potential for creating sloppy game conditions that would discourage passing, particularly for UCF.
Aside from a different focus on offense, the Knights must also overcome a relative lack of experience, something that wasn't as big of a concern in 2002. The holdovers from that game who actually played are few in number.
This is something of a concern to O'Leary, who is wary of having any of his players in awe of Beaver Stadium. When asked what he does with young players who might be uneasy, O'Leary jokingly made reference to his team's youth.
"You don't take them," he said.
"But we just have to take them, that's our problem right now. We have no choice. When you take a traveling squad it's usually seniors and juniors. I got to wait for about nine to get out of a Boy Scout meeting, and then we're heading off to Penn State."
