Knights must not fall into a trap

No. 10 UCF pledges not to overlook E. Carolina

The UCF football team enjoyed another win in Memphis Saturday, but it was unique compared to most of the Knights’ 19 consecutive victories.

They were tested. They were pushed to the brink. The Knights needed every point, every second, every ounce of will possible to erase a two-score deficit and scratch out a one-point triumph over the Tigers. UCF’s reward? Getting right back on the road this week, visiting a slumping East Carolina Pirates squad that is 0-3 in American Athletic Conference play and ranks 100th or worse nationally in scoring offense and scoring defense. The Knights are favored to win by 21 points, according to VegasInsider.com.

With a seemingly lesser opponent on the horizon followed by a restful bye week, some may be wary of the Knights falling victim to a trap game in Greenville, N.C., on Saturday.

UCF coach Josh Heupel can’t imagine such a result.

“I don’t understand how that will happen,” Heupel said Monday when asked about the possibility his players may not be entirely dialed in prepping for the Pirates. “You only get 12 chances to go out and play that are guaranteed. That’s it — and we lost one to weather. We work eight months for those few opportunities. I think our kids will be focused.”

Junior center Jordan Johnson agreed, saying that the thriller versus Memphis has actually humbled the team.

“I don’t want anybody on our team to have the mindset that we can’t lose,” Johnson said. “... We want to know in the back of our mind that if we don’t bring our ‘A’ game, we could possibly lose, so we’ve got to bring it every time we touch the field.”

That’s a mindset the Knights have carried onto the field for at least all of this season. They know every opponent they face wants to brag that they snapped the nation’s longest winning streak, that they took down the UCF team that now hasn’t lost in 22 months.

“We’ve just got to understand that every team is going to give us their best shot,” UCF senior defensive tackle A.J. Wooten said. “Memphis gave us their best shot, and ECU is going to give us their best shot.”

For UCF, the reality is every game on its regular-season schedule is the most important one for the men on the other sideline. Heupel has preached to his players that they must match that intensity, something he said the Knights did not do in the early