It’s GameDay: Knights ready
The nation has its eyes on Orlando as UCF hosts Cincinnati tonight.
While the spectacle of hosting ESPN College GameDay has captivated fans, the UCF football team insists it has remained sharply focused on finding a way to beat No. 24 Cincinnati.
The No. 11 Knights (9-0, 6-0 American Athletic Conference), who own the nation’s longest win streak spanning 22 games, have been preparing for arguably their toughest game to date when they take on the Bearcats (9-1, 5-1 AAC) Saturday at Spectrum Stadium.
Cincinnati owns the AAC’s top defense while UCF owns the league’s most prolific offense.
“They’re a really good football team,” Knights coach Josh Heupel said of the Bearcats. “We’ve played a few teams that are really good football teams. … They’re physical, they’re tough and they compete hard. They don’t hurt themselves and they make you earn it on the defensive side of the football.”
The Knights can clinch the AAC East Division crown for the second consecutive season with a win over the Bearcats while Cin- cinnati would need to win out and hope Temple loses to earn a spot in the title game.
The game will be the featured game in the national spotlight, with the contest scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. and air nationally on ABC.
This is a much different Cincinnati defense than what the Knights faced last season when they scored 52 points during a weather-shortened game. This year’s Bearcats team features the sixth-best defense in the country, allowing less than 15 points and 280 yards per game this season.
“They’re good, and up front they’re active,” UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton said. “I think probably the best part of their defense is their secondary. They’re a lot better than last year, that’s for sure.”
But Cincinnati isn’t the only team that’s changed during the past year.
Former UCF coach Scott Frost installed a fast offense. Heupel took over during the offseason and hit the gas harder.
UCF may be averaging fewer points per game (44) this season than last year, but the team is averaging more yards than last year (543). Tempo-wise, out of the Knights’ 61 scoring drives, 42 of them have taken less than 2:41. Eleven have taken less than a minute.
“I know offensively you would think it’s still the same tempo type of stuff and it’s still some quarterback runs,” Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said of the changes he’s seen from UCF’s offense since last season. “But I think it’s uniquely different. I don’t know that I’ve really played against what it is that they do with the tempo and the pace at which they play at. I think it is quite unique.”
Like the Knights, the Bearcats are trying to enjoy their time in the national spotlight while also trying to shine in it.
“It comes with the game,” Cincinnati senior defensive tackle Cortez Broughton told reporters when asked about the GameDay hype. “I’m going to go out and have fun. I love playing football, and that’s what I’m doing. This is what you want and what you see. This is your chance and your opportunity. We always have something to prove. It’s not so much as showing the world, it’s showing yourself what you can do with your team, the philosophy that you built and the culture that you have.”
Cincinnati’s offense has been built around the play of quarterback Desmond Ridder and running back Mike Warren II. The pair of combined for more than 1,500 rushing yards and 22 total touchdowns.
UCF secondary coach Willie Martinez, who worked at Cincinnati last season, believes in order to contain the Bearcats’ offense, the Knights must do a better job on third downs after letting teams such as East Carolina and Memphis put up big numbers on them.
“The best thing would be a third-down-and-long situation, not third-andshorts,” he said. “It starts with doing a good job on first and second downs.”