(Image Courtesy: UCF Athletics)
Written by Garin Turner
The 19th ranked UCF Knights look to go 2-0 on the season as they host South Carolina State Saturday at 6 PM EST on ESPN3. The Knights are coming off a 56-17 blowout win against UConn last week. This is the home opener for the Knights as they look to push their winning streak to a nation-best 15 games. South Carolina State opened up their season with a 37-6 road loss to Georgia Southern.
In head coach Josh Heupel’s debut, the Knights put up 652 yards on the Huskies in total offense, three takeaways on defense, and kept their quarterbacks upright throughout the game not allowing any sacks. UCF is 30-9 in home openers. UCF leads the series 2-0.
Quarterback McKenzie Milton was named The American Offensive Player of the Week after tying his career high touchdown passes with five while throwing for 346 yards on 24-for-32 completions. He also added seven carries for 50 yards. For McKenzie, it was his ninth 300-yard passing game in his career and the fifth time he’s thrown for four touchdowns or more.
The Knights would like to see their run production come from elsewhere than the quarterback position. Besides McKenzie, the top rusher last week was backup Darriel Mack Jr. who ran once but scored from 70 yards. The Knights, however, were efficient scoring eight out of their nine possessions and scored 14 points in each quarter. They didn’t waste time on their scoring drives only taking two minutes and 39 seconds or less.
Tre Nixon had a great debut at wide receiver for the Knights. He caught five passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Gabriel Davis, Greg McCrae, and Otis Anderson all caught a touchdown pass. Anderson also added a score on the ground as well as Mack Jr. and Adrian Killins Jr.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Knights did give up 486 yards to the Huskies. The first of their three turnovers forced came on UConn’s opening possession when linebacker Pat Jasinski forced a fumble and defensive back Richie Grant recovered. Grant then intercepted a pass that ended a potential scoring drive for the Huskies. The final turnover was a fumble recovered by Nate Evans. The Knights will look to limit big plays and get the defense off the field sooner in this game.
