Blake Bortles (born December 16, 1991) is an American football quarterback. He played college football at UCF. Bortles was the Knights starting quarterback from midway through the 2011 season, when he succeeded Jeff Godfrey, to 2013. In 2012, Bortles led UCF to a Conference USA East Division Championship and bowl victory. In 2013, Bortles help lead the Knights to an upset of then−No. 6 Louisville, to win the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship, and an upset victory over sixth-ranked Baylor in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl.
Bortles attended Oviedo High School in Oviedo, Florida. As a senior he completed 151 of 233 passes for 2,211 yards with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He finished his career with Seminole County record 5,576 career passing yards and 53 touchdowns.
Regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Bortles was listed as the No. 44 pro-style quarterback in his class. Bortles chose Central Florida over offers from Colorado State, Purdue, Tulane, and Western Kentucky.
Bortles accepted the offer from University of Central Florida, the first college to offer him scholarship, and a local university as he lives near the campus. He was redshirted as a true freshman in 2010. As a redshirt freshman in 2011, he played in 10 games completing 75 of 110 passes for 958 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. As a sophomore in 2012, he started all 14 games at quarterback. He completed 251 of 399 passes for 3,059 yards with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed for 285 yards and scored eight touchdowns. He was the MVP of the 2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl after completing 22 of 32 passes for 271 yards with three touchdowns and 79 rushing yards. In 2014, Bortles led the Knights to the inaugural championship of the American Athletic Conference, earning the league's automatic berth to a BCS bowl. Throwing for 301-yards and rushing for 93-yards for four touchdowns, Bortles led UCF to an upset of sixth-ranked Baylor 52–42. Winning UCF's first major bowl, he was named the Offensive MVP of the 2014 Fiesta Bowl.
On January 5, 2014, Bortles announced that he would forgo his senior season of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2014 NFL Draft. Projected a top-five selection in the 2014 NFL Draft, Bortles looks to surpass Daunte Culpepper as the highest selected UCF draft pick.
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