Atmore’s Linam Standout During Saturday UCF Scrimmage

August 14, 2011

A former Atmore resident was the shining star for the  University of Central Florida Knights Saturday morning during the teams’ first full contact scrimmage of training camp.

Surrounded by mostly youth and inexperience in the linebacker corps, Josh Linam takes seriously his role as a playmaker and leader for the Knights’ defense.

Linam’s growth as a player and focus as a leader was evident as he made play after play in the middle of the defense.

Linam’s stellar, stingy play helped UCF’s defense carry the day in a steamy session where yards were hard to come by and the defense swarmed on tackles. The offense did play well late in the day, getting three-straight touchdown runs from quarterback Jeff Godfrey and tailback Latavius Murray. But for the most part, the defense proved itself to be slightly ahead of the offense – in large part because of the sure tackling by Linam.

“It’s a team defensive effort and everybody has to be doing their job for us to be successful as a whole. We made some strides forward in doing that today,” Linam said Saturday. “As a senior, a lot rests on my shoulders. I expect myself to get everyone lined up, make sure they are doing the right things and playing with effort and enthusiasm. I think everybody was doing that today.”

As for Linam, he is UCF’s lone senior at linebacker and he could very well be lining up alongside true freshmen Terrance Plummer and Willingham at times this season. And another of the standout linebackers in camp, Ray Shipman, is a converted basketball player from the University of Florida. So Linam, UCF’s third-leading tackler last season, knows that much of the responsibility for UCF remaining atop Conference USA in defense rests on his shoulders.

“Again today (Willingham and Plummer) took another stride forward. They’re doing their jobs, they’re really athletic and they’re running to the ball and making plays,” said Linam, who had 78 stops and nine tackles for loss last season in his first year as a starter. “I think the chemistry on defense right now is great. Everybody is really into it with one heartbeat and trying to get better. Everyone is focused on playing team defense and getting better. If we keep this up we have a chance to be a really good defense.”

Last season, Linam was the defensive MVP for the UCF Knights as they defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 10-6 in the Autozone Liberty Bowl.

Linam was named to the All Conference USA All Academic 1st Team, ESPN-nominated for Academic All American, ESPN All District 3 Academic 1st Team and Conference USA player of the week versus Houston with 17 tackles. He finished last season with 78 tackles, 9.0 tackles for losses and one interception.

Linam is the son of Dr. Kevin R. Linam of Atmore.

Pictured top: Josh Linam (#50) assists with a tackle in the Autozone Liberty Bowl as UCF beat the Georgia Bulldogs 10-6. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

One Response to “Atmore’s Linam Standout During Saturday UCF Scrimmage”

  1. Joan and Ray Linam on August 14th, 2011 4:13 pm

    So proud of our Grandson Josh. Looking forward to the UCF Season. Go #50, Go Knights.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports