After a rough
outing last year against Maryland, UCF QB McKenzie Milton is looking for better results in the rematch with the high-powered Terrapins.
Last season against Maryland, UCF freshman quarterback McKenzie Milton was running around, scrambling away from tacklers, launching passes while he was scampering out of bounds and fumbling footballs.
At the same time, however, the freshman was impressive, improvising, extending plays with his legs and making things happen.
That’s what Maryland coach DJ Durkin remembers and that’s what he’s prepared his team for when the Terrapins (2-0) host the Knights (1-0) at 3 p.m. today in UCF’s first game since Hurricane Irma disrupted the early part of its football season. “He’s a dangerous player. He can beat you throwing it and running it. He’s elusive. He’s hard to get down on the ground,” Durkin said this week. “A lot of his big plays come from scrambling out of the pocket,
broken plays and buying time and launching the ball downfield.”
That’s Milton in a nutshell, but last season the outcome was not always positive as the Knights went 6-7 and bumbled their way to the finish line while losing their final three games.
It’s easier for the Knights to remember the bad things that happened against Maryland since the outcome was a 30-24 double-overtime loss. Milton accounted for four turnovers that night, including the decisive play when Milton’s ill-advised attempt to throw a pass while avoiding a sack went backward and was recovered by Maryland as a fumble to end the game.
Milton fumbled six times in his UCF debut, losing three of them, prompting head coach Scott Frost to utter an old Seinfeld line upon being reminded of the performance earlier this week.
“Was it six fumbles? Sweet fancy Moses,” said Frost during his weekly press conference on Monday. Frost can laugh now, and so can Milton.
“We watched the game from last year a bunch of times. … We played pretty well; well enough to win,” Frost said. “We made too many mistakes and it cost us the ball game. We had fumbles on exchanges … McKenzie threw one backward over his head for a 15-yard loss. …
“It was his first start, and I think he’s kind of indicative of both teams right now. He’s a lot better player than he was … both teams, as a whole, are better than they were.”
When asked how much film of last year’s game he has watched, Milton said, “That’s actually funny. Coach Mario [QB coach Verduzco] played like a whole highlight reel of bad plays from last year’s game, so watched a little bit of it.
“Obviously we left a lot of plays out there on the field. [We] feel like we probably could have won that game last year, but it’s a new year. They’re a better team and we’re a better team, so it’s a new challenge.”
Milton said he’s not so much a different quarterback this year, but his experience and practice time to work on his tendencies and his decision making should translate into fewer mistakes in gametime situations.
“I don’t know about how much different I am. I still approach it the same and overall the team is just better,” said Milton, using a common refrain used by most UCF players and coaches about this year’s team. “You can’t ever erase a loss. … I’m not really dwelling on last year, not looking at it as payback.”
It’s a challenge Frost says he thinks his secondyear quarterback is ready for and he has bigger expectations for Milton this time around. Frost was pleased with Milton’s poise in the first game, a 61-17 rout of FIU. Milton was named the American Athletic Conference offensive player of the week after throwing for 360 yards and four touchdowns, completing 16-of-21 passes. He turned the ball over just once on an interception Milton himself referred to as a “bonehead” play.
“He’s going to play a lot better. I have no doubt about that,” Frost said.