Milton promises he’ll be careful after injury scare
No. 12 UCF rolled to a 48-20 win over SMU Saturday night at Spectrum Stadium. Check out the top three things we learned from the victory.
1. UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton is too important to have him taking hits: Sure, a huge part of Milton’s game is his ability to scramble and extend plays with his legs. He’s one of the leading rushers on the team with a little more than 200 yards and five rushing touchdowns during the first five games of the season.
The Knights, however, cannot afford to lose the junior quarterback.
Milton took a scary hit Saturday night while trying to earn a first down, getting sandwiched by two SMU defenders. He lay on the ground for a few minutes as UCF staff members rushed to his aide. He walked off the field, but there was obviously a momentary gasp among UCF fans and Milton’s teammates.
“We tell him to get down, but he doesn’t like to do that too often,” UCF head coach Josh Heupel said. “We want to keep him as healthy as possible without eliminating or taking away a portion of his game. Certainly glad he was healthy and able to play.”
Milton has started 28 consecutive games for the Knights and his importance to this team has been obvious during the 18-game win streak.
2. Aaron Robinson is just fine: The redshirt-sophomore cornerback took a scary hit during the first game of the season, suffering a nasty concussion during the opening kickoff at UConn. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation and did not immediately return home after the game with the rest of the team.
He was sidelined during the next few games while going through concussion protocol.
On Saturday night against SMU, he saw his first action since the opener. Normally stoic Heupel was thrilled about Robinson’s return.
“Man, the smile on my face seeing him at pregame meal and then in the locker room again before kickoff, and he had almost as big a smile as I had for him to be able to go out there and play,” Heupel said. “It’s a great lesson for all of our players: Don’t take any day for granted. You get into the monotony and the grind of college football and it’s hard, but I think he learned the value of each and every day … just so happy to see him back out there competing and playing and having fun. Our entire football team was really excited for him.”
3. There is plenty of glory to go around for this football team: Once again, there were more players stepping into the spotlight for UCF this week. Kicker Matthew Wright recovered a fumble and defensive lineman Trysten Hill scored a touchdown. The Knights had five different players score touchdowns during the rout and the defense also had some big plays, including huge hits by Titus Davis and Antwan Collier.
This team is fun to watch and fans never know who will generate the next big play. The plays don’t exclusively come from UCF’s starters, which is a testament to the Knights’ depth.
“You gotta be willing to prepare the right way, you gotta be willing to go and compete and it’s gotta be about the team and don’t care about who gets the glory,” Heupel said. “As long as you have those characteristics inside your locker room you got a chance.”