UCF had no trouble getting past its latest challenge - and the Northeast cold - to get to 10- for the first time in program history
by Dick Weiss
It's getting late in the season, but UCF still has a few closing arguments it would like to make.
The Knights beat Temple, 45-19, last Saturday at a cool, damp Lincoln Financial Field to improve their record of 10-0. They can make history next Friday against USF in the War on I-4 at Spectrum Stadium in Orlando.
There is a lot at stake here for the Knights. If UCF wins, the Knights will win The American’s East Divsion, finish the regular season unbeaten and host Memphis in The American Championship Dec. 2 on ABC.
There is a lot to like about this young team that can score in a hurry and has a defense that makes game changing plays.
Hopefully, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee can see past what may be preconceived notions and judge UCF on its merits, instead of creating a glass ceiling that limits a team like this from moving into the top 10, while the benefit of the doubt goes to other teams that have two, or even three losses.
“Right now, the country's thoughts about our program are up and down,” UCF linebacker and 2016 American Defensive Player of the Year Shaquem Griffin said. “But if we keep winning we're going to change a lot of minds.”
At least one UCF player showed what he thought about the rankings when he ran off the field last Saturday with a sign that said, “We Want 'Bama.”
Why not dream big?
UCF coach Scott Frost is trying his best to keep a special team focused with a short week ahead. Frost rarely brings up the big picture. But last Friday night at a team meeting, he talked with the team about what it means to be 10-0.
“Not too many people do it,” he said. “There's just a handful of team every year out of 129 teams that have a chance to do it. I put that in front of them and it's hard to win football games, it's hard to win that many in a row and what this team has this year is amazing.”
UCF didn't leave anything to chance last week in what could have been a trap game against a Temple team that had caught its stride late in the season and was playing for bowl eligibility. The Knights came up with seven scoring drives that all lasted less than three minutes.
And the Knights didn’t seem affected by the dropping temperatures that hit Philadelphia in late fall.
Any concerns Frost had about the elements melted away when he was walking off the field in pregame and he saw his defensive backs and wide receivers walking out without any shirts as a show of bravado.
“Actually, it was the receivers’ idea,” Knights wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith said. “We wanted to show we could play in this weather too even though we were Florida boys.”
Smith is one of the many game changers on UCF’s talented roster. He had the play of the game against Temple when he made a spectacular one-handed catch of a pass from McKenzie Milton and managed to keep one foot in bounds during a 22-yard touchdown that lifted the Knights to a commanding 38-13 lead in the third quarter.
When Smith ran over to the sideline, Frost hit him with the theme song from ESPN’s Sports Center. “Da, da, da. Da, da, da.”
Milton completed 16 of 23 passes for 208 yards and four touchdowns. Freshman running back/wideout Otis Anderson averaged 11.6 yards a carry with 58 yards rushing in five carries and caught a nine-yard touchdown. But this game belonged to the defense, whose secondary was just too quick for the Owls, forcing Temple into four interceptions.
It was good rehearsal for USF. The Bulls, who got two touchdown passes and 119 yards rushing from quarterback Quinton Flowers to defeat Tulsa 27-20 last Thursday.
This UCF-USF rivalry has quickly escalated as the biggest feud in The American. In last year’s game, Flowers had touchdown runs of 62-and 24=-yards as the Bulls blew open a 31-24 lead for an impressive 48-31 victory in Tampa.
“We all remember what happened last year,” Griffin said. “It’s like payback. We’re ready to go to war.: