Recharged Knights ready to take on Owls
UCF coach Josh Heupel said the Knights tried to make the most of their surprise free weekend.
The first-year coach and his UCF players were supposed to face off with North Carolina during a critical nonconference road showdown.
But for the third consecutive season, the Knights’ schedule was altered by Mother Nature. Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas, canceling Saturday’s showdown with the Tar Heels.
Heupel said UCF found out about the decision to cancel the game following practice Tuesday.
“It’s tough because of when you find out the information,” Heupel said Sunday. “You have to fast-forward and move on to the next week’s prep. It gave some of the guys that maybe have had a few nicks a few more days to get healthy.
“That’s the biggest advantage is that guys get a couple more days to rebound and get ready for the following week.”
UCF defeated South Carolina State on Sept. 8 and the Knights won’t play again until facing FAU on Friday.
The team took Wednesday off before returning to a regular practice routine on Thursday, with players in pads and helmets followed by a walk-through on Friday. Saturday was an off day for everyone, including the coaching staff.
Heupel said the free time allowed some members of his coaching staff to hit the road to recruit while others spent time with family members they see less of during the season.
“I got a chance to watch my daughter’s volleyball game and my son’s first flag-football game. That was the positive side, maybe the only positive side of the weekend,” Heupel said.
UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton said the Knights’ free time is far less important than the challenges facing those who live in areas hit by the storm.
“Our thoughts and prayers go to the people up in North Carolina. Their homes, their jobs, their families are affected, so it’s definitely much bigger than football,” he said, adding the Knights had to take changes to the schedule “with a grain of salt.”
“It’s a week to get your legs under you and get ready for a tough opponent in FAU.”
Milton said the bye gave UCF some extra time to prepare for Friday’s game against FAU coach Lane Kiffin and the Owls, who are projected to repeat as Conference USA champions.
“Thursday we were already game-planning for FAU, so we had all weekend to do that and get right back to it today,” Milton said.
Redshirt junior defensive lineman Brendon Hayes said the cancellation of the UNC game was disappointing, but there’s nothing the Knights could do about it.
“I don’t really see any positives from it,” Hayes said. “We were ready as a staff and as a program to play that game.”
Hayes said the defense hasn’t been focused on doing anything differently during the break.
“We focused on what we’ve been focused on since camp and that’s to just execute our keys, making our reads and playing the calls honestly,” he said.
Hawaiian connection
Milton spent much of his day off Saturday catching up on some of the other college football action across the country.
The Alabama-Ole Miss game was of special interest to Milton because it featured his fellow Hawaiian quarterbacks and best friends — the Tide’s Tua Tagovailoa and the Rebels’ Jordan Ta’amu.
“[I’ve known] both of those guys — Jordan and Tua — for a very long time, obviously. When one guy is on offense, you want them to score, and when the next guy’s out there, you obviously want them to score, but it’s fun to see them, you know, performing at the highest level of college football.
“They’re both special players and I think they’ll both be playing on Sundays.”