The UCF Knights (1-0) extended their winning streak to 14-games Thursday evening, the longest streak in the nation. UCF rocked UConn 56-17, scoring 14 points in each quarter of the game. Knights247 shares its Five Takeaways from the victory and provides a positive update on Aaron Robinson.

1. Faster pace, no problem for the Knights

All offseason long, we had heard that first-year head coach Josh Heupel’s offense is even faster and more vertical compared to Scott Frost’s. And that was clear Thursday evening.

“We did play with pace,” said Heupel, “We created a bunch of big plays too. They woke up ready to play and competed really hard.”

UCF scored in 2 minutes, 39 seconds or less on each of its scoring drives. The Knights scored on 8-of-9 offensive possessions (not including running the clock out at the end of each half). The Knights put up 14 points in each quarter.

“When you’re players are executing very well, it can go fast,” Heupel said. “We’re not in a race or anything else, just trying to go 1-0. When the tempo provides an opportunity for us, we’re going to use it. The kids have handled it and grasped onto it very well.”

2. McKenzie Milton picked up where he left off

The Heisman candidate quarterback threw for his 50th career touchdown. Then he threw for 51 and 52. Milton threw for 346 yards and five touchdowns. It was the ninth 300-yard passing game of Milton’s career and the fifth time he’s thrown for four touchdowns or more.

“He’s smart, he’s competitive,” said Heupel. “He’s a gamer. And when I say that I mean he has a feel for space, for bodies. He’s got the ability to extend to make plays.”

According to Heupel, there’s still room for improvement for the junior quarterback.

“He’s continuing to get so much better from inside of the pocket and getting his eyes in a better position and his feet in the ground. As good as he’s played, as good as tonight is, I think there's a ton of growth for him,” said Heupel.

3. Tre Nixon is an invaluable addition.

Nixon’s first catch of the evening came on a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback McKenzie at the nine-minute mark of the first quarter. Nixon later caught an 11-yard pass from Milton to put the Knights up 42-10.

The Ole Miss transfer led all UCF receivers with 101 receiving yards, his longest catch for 45-yards. It’s pretty clear Milton likes passing to Nixon and that the two have great chemistry on and off the field.

"I thought our skills players did a real job in pushing their defensive backs off and also, running by them on some of our deep shots,” said Heupel.

4. Defense bends but doesn’t break

It was obvious to any UCF fan that the Knights struggled to tackle UConn quarterback David Pindell. The senior Huskies quarterback rushed for 157 yards including one touchdown. Heupel addressed the tackling issues after the game.

“We’ll go back and watch the film,” said Heupel. “He’s (Pindell) a good player too in space, talking about the quarterback. But, you do have to tackle. That’ll be something we’ll continue to work on.”

Still, the defense delivered when it had to. With UConn at the UCF 25-yard line and the Knights holding a 28-10 lead, Richie Grant stepped in front of a David Pindell pass to end the threat.

“Critical,” said Heupel when asked about the timing of Grant’s interception, “We continued to keep a little bit of distance and then we came out and started fast in the second half and kind of opened it up and put pressure on them. It changes the way the game is played.”

Earlier in the game, Grant recovered a UConn fumble that was knocked loose by the Knights. UCF held UConn to just 17 points, despite the Huskies holding the ball for 38:08 and tallying 486 yards of offense.

“I’m really proud,” said the first year head coach. “Our kids played hard. We took control of (the ball) on the offensive side of the ball and we went and got after it on the defensive side of the ball. That’s going to be critical for us moving forward.”

Pat Jasinski led the way with 11 tackles and broke up a pass. Sophomore linebacker Eric Mitchell added 10 stops. After stepping in for Kyle Gibson, Antwan Collier made nine stops in the first half alone.

5. The Knights have an answer at back-up

After a solid performance from McKenzie Milton, Heupel pulled the Knights starter and replaced him with Darriel Mack. There had been some questions regarding UCF’s quarterback situation behind Milton and tonight appears to have answered those.

Just minutes after entering the game, Mack broke free for a 70-yard rushing touchdown which put the Knights up 56-10 with ten minutes remaining. Heupel noted that touchdown was “awesome” for Mack, who also was 2-2 with 10 passing yards.

“In the lead up to the ball game, when we named him the number two quarterback, just how far he’s come in a short amount time, fundamentally, understanding the game, getting his eyes in the right place, for him to go out and really perform pretty well, and then make the big play with his feet, it’s a positive for him. Hopefully, it encourages him to press on even more,” said Heupel.

The Knights will return home and host South Carolina State next Saturday at 6 p.m.

Positive update on Aaron Robinson

Aaron Robinson was taken off the field on a stretcher following the opening kickoff of UCF’s game against UConn.

According to Heupel, Robinson will “be okay.” The Alabama transfer playing for the first time for the Knights gave the fans a thumbs up as he was carted off the field and he was seen moving his legs as trainers tended to him.

“He’s going to stay overnight and we’ll monitor him to make sure he’s going to be okay. Long term though, they feel pretty good,” said Heupel.



Robinson was covering the kickoff as UCF kicked to UConn. Robinson went in to make a tackle on the returner’s left and his head made contact at an awkward angle with the Keyion Dixon’s body.