ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) – A week off from competition might have forced the UCF football team to take a bit to get back into rhythm, but eventually the Knights pulled away for a dominating 56-36 victory over FAU Friday night at Spectrum Stadium.
Here’s what we learned…
A convincing victory doesn’t have to start from the coin toss
The Knights didn’t trail much during their undefeated 2017 season. They didn’t trail at all in the first two games of 2018 in wins over UConn and South Carolina State. On Friday night, after rushing out to a 14-0 lead, FAU scored 17 unanswered points to take a 17-14 advantage late in the second quarter.
How did UCF respond? McKenzie Milton led a one minute and three second drive that concluded with a touchdown pass to Marlon Williams to immediately take the lead back before halftime.
After a trip to the locker room, the Knights came out and scored on their first two possessions of the third quarter to extend their lead to 35-17. UCF just never stopped attacking, and when the final second ticked off the clock it was a convincing 56-36 victory in front of a capacity home crow. Yet another great result for the Knights.
Lane Kiffin believes the Heup
When FAU head coach Lane Kiffin stepped into his postgame press conference, his first comments were on how good the Knights are and an opinion on where they perhaps should be ranked at this point in the 2018 season.
“If UCF has a different logo on their shirt, by their name, that’s SEC or ACC or something, you guys are voting them probably top six in the country,” Kiffin said. “(They have) the nation’s longest winning streak, two blowouts already this season, finished (last season) beating Auburn. That’s a really good team.”
With the win UCF extended the nation’s longest win streak to 16 games, which set an American Athletic Conference record. The Knights have also scored 30 or more points in 16 straight games, which again, leads the nation.
KZ is who we thought he was
Any thought that McKenzie Milton’s less than amazing performance against South Carolina State was anything more than just a blip in what has been a magnificent run since the start of the 2017 season was certainly silenced Friday night.
Not only did Milton not turn the ball over once, but he threw it and ran it as effectively as ever. With a highly regarded opponent in town, and the bright lights of ESPN in his face, the junior gun slinger had yet another remarkable performance in front of Knight Nation.
Milton went 21-of-32 for 306 yards passing with three touchdowns. It marked the 10th 300-yard passing game of his career and it was the 10th time he threw for at least three touchdowns in a game.
Maybe even more impressive was his ability to find running room and find the end zone against the Owls. Milton ran 13 times for 81 yards and scored three times on the ground.
The six combined passing and rushing touchdowns tied a career-best for Milton, who did the same in the American Athletic Conference Championship game last season, are also the second most ever by a UCF quarterback.
In short, Milton was really good Friday night.
More offensive weapons continue to show up
Yes, it is widely known that there are a multitude of weapons for Milton and head coach Josh Heupel to utilize in 2018. But through the first two games it was names like Gabriel Davis, Tre Nixon, Adrian Killins Jr., and Otis Anderson that carried much of the load.
In Friday’s victory, we continued to hear Michael Colubiale, Dredrick Snelson, Marlon Williams, and Taj McGowan. The weapons just keep showing up.
- Colubiale: 6 catches for 84 yards
- Snelson: 4 catches for 62 yards and 1 TD
- Williams: 2 catches for 30 yards and 1 TD
- McGowan: 7 rushes for 35 yards and 1 TD
PURCHASE 2018 TICKETS
Tickets for the remaining games on the 2018 schedule are going fast. Fans can purchase theirs today and learn about all of their options by calling (407) 823-1000 or visiting us online at ucfknights.com/fbtix.