Knights don’t discount Temple
UCF wants to stay unbeaten ahead of showdown vs. USF.
No. 15 Central Florida is talked about a lot these days.
Where are the Knights in the College Football Playoff rankings? Should they be ranked higher? Are they a lock to play in a major bowl if they win the American Athletic Conference? Can they go undefeated? If UCF does go undefeated, should it be considered for the playoff ?
How about coach Scott Frost? Is he going to Nebraska? Or maybe Florida? And, oh man, that game against South Florida the day after Thanksgiving, with a spot in the AAC title game on the line. Won’t that be epic?
So much to talk about, and none of it has to do with Temple, UCF’s opponent today.
“There is a lot of distractions and you have to be able to ignore all of them,” Frost said. “‘Star Wars’ is coming out in December. There are things that are happening all over that can get our guys’ attention. Our guys are fighting it by showing up and going to work. Right now, we have an environment where everybody loves being in the building, they love practicing. That’s rare, but I see it every day with the way we start practice and the energy in practice that guys are having fun. You get a lot done when you have that attitude.”
Today in Philadelphia, UCF (9-0, 6-0) faces Temple (5-5, 3-3) in a game that has no bearing on the conference championship race. The AAC East will be decided next Friday in Orlando when UCF plays rival USF (9-1, 6-1). The Bulls set up the winner-take-all game by beating Tulsa on Thursday night.
For UCF, it comes down to this: Beat the Bulls and win the conference title game at home the following week, and the Knights would be a virtual lock to play in a New Year’s Six bowl as the highest-ranked conference champion from outside the Power Five.
Still, the Knights insist they are focused on the task at hand. Last season’s last-second loss to Temple, which went on to win the American, helps that cause, offensive tackle Wyatt Miller said.
“I think we’ve done a good job as far as this whole season of knowing we are taking it week by week and not overlooking an opponent, because that’s when something bad happens,” Miller said.
UCF’s breakout season in Year 2 under Frost has led to the former Nebraska quarterback and Oregon offensive coordinator becoming one of the hottest names on the job market. Especially in Lincoln, where the struggling Cornhuskers may end up parting with coach Mike Riley.
The next couple of weeks have a chance to be very eventful for UCF. But first Temple.
After spending most of the first half of the season searching for a quarterback, first-year coach Geoff Collins seems to have found one in Frank Nutile. The junior took over as starter three games ago and has passed for 803 yards since, helping the Owls go 2-1 and move to within one victory of bowl eligibility.
“He brings some leadership ability, some poise,” Collins said. “He gets us in the right plays, right protections, and does a really nice job of distributing the ball to our playmakers. As a leader he’s in the special teams huddles. He’s over there congratulating the defense or even firing the defense up before they take the field.”
Collins said the Knights have “one of the most explosive offenses in college football, if not the most explosive.”
UCF is fifth in the country in offensive plays of at least 20 yards, with 70 of them. Quarterback Milton McKenzie is averaging 10.8 yards per pass attempt as the offense tries to stretch defenses vertically with its speedy receivers such as Tre’Quan Smith (19.03).
Temple counters with maybe the best set of safeties in the conference in Delvon Randall and Sean Chandler, both legitimate NFL prospects. The Owls also rank second in the AAC in sacks at 2.80 per game.
USF 27, Tulsa 20: Quinton Flowers threw two touchdown passes, and the Bulls (9-1, 6-1) held off the Golden Hurricane (2-9, 1-6) late Thursday in Tampa.
Flowers, one of the nation’s top dual-threat quarterbacks, ran for 119 yards and threw for 142 yards.
USF’s high-powered offense wasn’t as sharp as usual. But Flowers’ first-quarter TD throws of 25 yards to Tyre McCants and 35 yards to Darnell Salomon helped USF to a 21-7 lead.
Looking to tie late, Tulsa drove to the USF 30, but an incomplete pass on fourth down ended the threat.