Kiffin puts UCF, quarterback Milton on Power 5 scale
S like playing an SEC opponent,’ he says of last year’s only FBS unbeaten.
BOCA RATON — Quarterback McKenzie Milton and the Central Florida Knights have a fan in longtime college football and NFL head coach Lane Kiffin.
So, when Florida Atlantic travels to Orlando for a Friday night showdown with the Knights (2-0), Kiffin isn’t going to be surprised at whatever UCF throws FAU’s way.
“This is obviously a tough guy to contain and a tough offense,” Kiffin said of Milton. “They obviously go extremely fast and he’s a really special player. They’re really good all around.”
After starting 10 games as a true freshman in 2016, Milton emerged as a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender last season, throwing for 4,037 yards, 37 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while com- pleting 67.1 percent of his passes. Milton was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year as he led the Knights to a 13-0 record and a Peach Bowl win over the SEC runner-up Auburn Tigers.
Milton signed with UCF only months after the Knights went 0-12 in 2015. UCF has not lost since the 2016 Cure Bowl.
F inish i ng as the o nly FBS team to go undefeated last season, Milton and UCF claimed a “national championship.” Alabama defeated Georgia in the College Football Playoff National
Championship game last January.
Though Kiffin said on a podcast this offseason that he believed the Crimson Tide were the “true” national champions, he’s continued to levy heavy praise on the Knights. So much praise, in fact, that Kiffin thinks the Knights are on the same tal- ent level as many Power Five programs.
“Height, weight, speed, the players, the size of the guys,” Kiffin said. “It’s like playing an SEC opponent.”
Kiffin was Alabama’s offen- sive coordinator from 2014- 16, winning the 2015 national championship before becom- ing FAU’s head coach in Dec. 2016.
The Knights are led by an SEC-caliber quarterback in Milton, who finished sev- enth in the Heisman Trophy voting last season. Milton was 24 of 32 for 346 yards and five touchdowns in a 56-17 win over UConn last month, but struggled in a 38-0 win over South Caro- lina State on Sept. 8, throw- ing three interceptions and completing 53.8 percent of his passes.
Still, Kiffin isn’t taking Milton lightly, especially not after the junior threw for 242 yards and two touch- downs in last year’s Sugar Bowl win over Auburn.
“Really great touch, makes a ton of plays out of rhythm, scrambling around,” Kiffin said. “Really, really special player. He made so many plays down the stretch and (there were) some tight games where he made some huge plays.”
Gilbert back: After being benched for Saturday’s 49-28 win over Bethune-Cookman for an undisclosed violation of team rules, sophomore safety Zyon Gilbert again will start for the Owls on Friday night. Senior Ocie Rose started last week in place of Gilbert, who played off the bench and had two tackles against the Wildcats.
A former three-star recruit from Alabama, Gilbert has six tackles on the season. He had 52 tackles as a freshman last season.
Tronti cleared: Redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Tronti, who transferred to FAU from Indiana this summer, was given a waiver by the NCAA and can play without penalty this season. Tronti was expected to sit out this season in compliance with NCAA transfer rules but saw action on Saturday night.
Tronti is currently the fourth quarterback on the depth chart behind Chris Robison, De’Andre Johnson and Rafe Peavey.