Written by Zach Bartkus
ORLANDO, FLA. – The top 25 showdown between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the UCF Knights was held in Orlando, Florida on Saturday night at Spectrum Stadium. This primetime showdown came after the likes of Desmond Howard, Lee Corso, Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit were in town for College GameDay on Saturday morning. The Knights and the Bearcats got the primetime slot on national television as they kicked off at 8:00 PM ET on ABC.
To open the game Cincinnati did not get their play off in time resulting in a delay of game. The next play the Bearcats Chris Ferguson jumped early and forced Cincinnati back another five yards. The Bearcats would move the ball down the field but end up having to punt it away. UCF started with the ball on their own seven yard line but didn’t move the ball at all, literally. On the first play of the drive McKenzie Milton dropped backed to pass but would be hit from his blindside forcing him to fumble. The ball fell kindly into the endzone for Cincinnati as they recovered and would put the first points on the board but miss the field goal to make it 6-0.
Two drives later McKenzie Milton completed two long passes for a total of 43 yards to move the Knights down the field to the Cincinnati 33 yard line. The drive would result in a Milton 3 yard walk-in touchdown.
From that drive on the Knights would seemingly control the game as they tamed Head Coach Luke Fickell’s offense. Bearcats quarterback Desmond Ridder would throw 11-25 for 127 yards and run for 81 yards. Their offense seemed to move the ball down the field but either stall out towards the red zone or just cough it up.
After Milton scores the first points for UCF it would continue to trend that way. The Knights fast-paced offense seemed to stun the Bearcats defense. In 13 drives they would manage to rack up a total of 402 yards in 61 plays. Cincinnati only picked up 379 yards in 81 total plays of offense.
For the Knights, this is a good win. Both for the team to keep rolling on the now, 23 game winning streak and for the College Football Playoff Committee to further recognize the program. Could’ve this been a “quality win” the Knights we’re needing? It wasn’t a massive Power 5 program that UCF just beat, but it was the no. 1 defense in the American conference that they just steamrolled.
Milton would finish with 274 all-purpose yards alongside three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Greg McCrae ran the ball seven times for 41 yards and a touchdown and Adrian Killins Jr. caught the ball four times for 82 yards and two touchdowns.
Next week we see the Knights take on the USF Bulls in Tampa in the “War-on-I-4”. The game kicks off at 4:00 PM ET on Friday, November 23rd. You can watch the game nationally on ESPN.
