UCF running back Agyeman Addae sets sights high for Knights
Agyeman Addae doesn’t need to look far when it comes to what he wants to accomplish this season. The UCF running back points to a banner hanging in the Nicholson Fieldhouse that proudly commemorates the program’s three appearances in New Year’s Six bowl games. “I want us to go back,” he said.
“I want us to go even further than that … to go to a national championship. ” It’s been nearly seven years since the Knights’ last appearance in the 2019 Fiesta Bowl, but anybody who knows Addae wouldn’t be shocked by his bold prediction. The 5-foot-9, 190-pound Addae has been proving people wrong throughout most of his life.
As a true freshman walk-on, Addae stepped up to the plate after Taevion Swint faced a season-ending surgery for a meniscus injury in fall camp and Stacy Gage went under the knife for a lower-leg injury he suffered against West Virginia on Oct. 18. Addae quickly found himself on the field helping out as starters Jaden Nixon and Myles Montgomery , especially later in the season.
Although he finished with just 12 carries for 50 yards throughout the season, it was in the season finale at BYU on Nov. 29 that Addae truly shone. The Miami native delivered a standout performance with five receptions for 62 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter.
But it was a 4-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Tayven Jackson late in the third quarter that left people stunned. “(I threw) a little bit in Little League, but not in high school,” Addae said of the pass. “It was fun to get in there and show them what I could do and show the world what I could do, but that was just a flash of it and I hope to do more of it this year and in the coming years,” Addae added about last season.