UCF
Sunshine Saturday
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Here’s a Florida College football fan’s guide to this week’s games as the 2020 college football season is on its way into Week 12.
Last Saturday, Florida showed no signs of hangover from the World’s Largest Cocktail Party, by trouncing Arkansas 63-35.
Senior Quarterback Kyle Trask keeps breaking SEC records with his sixth game with four or more touchdowns.
The Gators travel to Nashville to take on the Commodores of Vanderbilt. Florida opens as a 31.5 point favorite.
Can Kyle Trask continue to play at an All-American level? Can the Gators put the game away early and rest some starters? My predictions: Trask throws for 5 touchdowns and they roll Vandy 45-13.
Last Saturday, FSU fans got a glimpse of their future. Chubba Purdy started the contest versus the North Carolina Wolfpack. Purdy played well, going 15 for 23 for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns, but it still wasn’t enough as the Wolfpack dominated the Noles 38-22.
FSU hosts number four Clemson at noon in Doak Campbell Stadium and the Noles are a historic underdog in the contest.
The Tigers open as a 32.5-point favorite over the 2-6 Seminoles. FSU was a 26-point underdog to Clemson last season, which was believed to be the largest point spread in school history.
Clemson suffered their lone loss two weeks ago to Notre Dame without star quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Their signal caller is expected back and that means bad news for the Noles. Clemson is a national powerhouse and Florida State is a national landfill.
In my opinion, this is the worst Florida State team in program history! Clemson 52 FSU 20.
Last Saturday night in Orlando, UCF manhandled Temple 38-13.
The Knights opened the game with a strip sack and never looked back. The Knights offense did not look like it was clicking until the start of the 3rd quarter, when Dillon Gabriel found Marlon Williams for an air mail touchdown.
For UCF, standards this season have been disappointing. The Knights are 5-2 after being picked by many to win the AAC conference.
The Knights and Bearcats renew their revere on Saturday in the Bounce House. With very limited capacity, the Bounce House during the 2020 season has not provided their normal home field advantage.
The Bearcats come into this game looking to remain unbeaten and take another step towards a potential playoff spot. Cincy opens as a 4-point favorite.
This is a battle between UCF’s offense and Cincinnati’s nationally ranked defense. The Bearcats are outscoring their opponents 212-57, with an average margin of victory of 31 points per game.
Those numbers are against quality offenses like Memphis, Houston and SMU.
UCF will score points, but Cincinnati is too legit this year. Give me the Bearcats 48 Knight 38.
The Miami Hurricanes game against Georgia Tech has been postponed due to COVID.
The Canes are coming off an impressive come from behind victory over Virginia Tech last Saturday.
D’Eriq King led a second half comeback to keep the Canes in the mix for the ACC title game. King makes Miami the U again.
So, sit back, buckle up and enjoy some college football this weekend.
If you are a Knight expecting a battle in the Bounce House, a Seminole praying for a miracle, a Gator witnessing a massacre or a Hurricane just waiting to troll the other fan bases, live college football offers us an escape during these stressful times.
Knights Playoff Crusade
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For any P5 school, an undefeated record followed up by a 12-1 showing would be cause for fans and national pundits alike to wonder if a dynasty is on the horizon.
But for a G5 school, even those incredible showings lead to questions about how far it might fall off in the next season.
Such is the plight of Central Florida in 2019.
To be sure, there are plenty of question marks for the Golden Knights as they enter the new season.
Chief among those is the absence of quarterback McKenzie Milton, whose second consecutive Heisman-level season was cut short the day after Thanksgiving last fall due to a devastating knee injury that will keep him out for all of this fall and still has his playing career very much in doubt of ever continuing.
There is also the loss of more than half of the defensive starters from last year’s squad. The Knights were good – but not great – throughout 2018 and will have to find plenty of answers this time around.
If UCF can continue to jump out ahead of opponents, the defensive rebuild will be helped greatly by an experienced secondary that will make life tough on trailing teams trying to rally through the air late in games.
Brandon Moor and Nevelle Clarke return at both corners and Richie Grant is back at safety, giving the Knights a stellar secondary.
But despite the continued absence of Milton, it’s the UCF offense that will once again make the Knights a favorite to win the AAC and continue to loom in the national polls.
Former Notre Dame starter Brandon Wimbush will step into the void behind center and – while not the passer that Milton was – can do plenty of damage on the ground.
Wimbush will be surrounded by the Knights’ top two rushers from last season in Greg McCrae and Adrian Killins, as well as receiver Gabriel Davis and his seven touchdown catches from 2018.
Even more important to the Knights’ continued offensive firestorm, UCF figures to feature, arguably, the best offensive line in the conference. Three All-AAC honorees return to the Knights’ front and can be depended on to keep the chains and the scoreboard moving as Wimbush assumes leadership of the offense.
While the Knights are once again supremely talented, a tough schedule lies ahead and will make their continued presence in the national polls a challenge.
Central Florida has a road date against a pesky Florida Atlantic squad in its second week before hosting Stanford and then traveling to Pittsburgh.
Two weeks later, the Knights travel to fellow AAC front-runner Cincinnati for a nationally televised Friday night showdown.
If UCF can survive all of that, it has a great chance of once again having a great argument for earning better rankings and more consideration for the national championship playoff.
If it doesn’t, the Knights will be the latest G5 team to become the (undeserved) butt of jokes coming from the P5 while suffering a quick fall from grace as pollsters aren’t much for giving the Cinderellas of the college football world the benefit of a doubt.
Knights’ Quest
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
A handful of ‘Group of Five’ teams have been able to make runs that put them into the national title discussion over the years but the 2018 edition of Central Florida will be the first of its kind since the Boise State squads of the mid-2000’s with a legitimate shot of making a second consecutive Cinderella run.
The Golden Knights checked off nearly every box in the ‘exciting dark-horse’ checklist last season. They had a young, explosive, dual-threat quarterback. They had a young head coach with name recognition. They had one of the most explosive and high-scoring teams in the country. And they had a linebacker with only one hand who was better than 99 percent of other collegiate defenders with two hands.
That took care of all of the talking points but UCF also backed it up with its play on the field, rolling to the only perfect record in FBS.
But now everything resets back to 0-0. Scott Frost and his staff set sail for Nebraska while NFL draftee Shaquem Griffin and some other key components from last season are gone.
Many G5 titans would be set up for a big fall with those losses but the Knights are still set up for more success.
The key to bridging the winning streak into the new season will focus on quarterback McKenzie Milton. Pressed into action as a freshman in 2016, Milton had a trial by fire that prepared him for a 2017 campaign that saw him put up over 4,500 yards of total offense. Still just a junior, Milton has already proven to be a leader that can will his team to wins.
Also providing a potential path to more success is a schedule that bodes well for the Knights.
Of Central Florida’s two games against Power Five schools, both are very winnable. The Knights take on a North Carolina squad that was just slapped with 13 suspensions midway through September and will host a Pittsburgh team that isn’t projected to be much of an ACC contender to close out the month.
Looking at UCF’s American Athletic Conference schedule brings more good news.
Those stepping up to fill holes in the depth chart will face the conference’s weaker teams throughout the first two months of the season, with the Knights’ biggest division rivals filling out the month of November.
There is enough continuity on both sides of the ball to believe that the Knights can contend again this season but the biggest question will be how the team adjusts to an overhaul on the coaching staff.
Taking the reins of the program after the departure of Frost is former Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel. The 2000 AP Player of the Year didn’t accomplish much in the NFL but began his coaching career at Oklahoma in 2004 and has been rising ever since.
Heupel coached Sam Bradford to a Heisman trophy at Oklahoma and worked his way up to offensive coordinator. He spent a year each at Utah State and Missouri before landing what is his first head coaching gig.
There are sure to be some growing pains with new starters and a new coaching staff but there is no reason to think that the Knights aren’t a contender for another AAC title and – with a little luck – another run at a New Year’s Day bowl.
After all, if UCF can go from 0-12 to 13-0 in just two years, anything seems possible.
