On a nationally televised Thursday night, the CFP’s 12th ranked UCF Knights played their annual Space Game against the Temple Owls who were looking to knock off their second ranked opponent in a row. In a game that had offenses blast off, the Knights pulled away and defeated the Owls 52-40. With 92 points scored and 1,300 yards of offense gained between the two teams, there are definitely some knee-jerk reactions to be had.

McKenzie Milton is back, and we are all better for it

UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton missed the Knights’ previous game with a sore ankle and shoulder. The Knights struggled in the air behind Darriel Mack Jr. ESPN joined the UCF faithful in an exhale of relief seeing Milton start the game. After beating some of the rust off, Milton shined early, throwing passes to Gabriel Davis on back-to-back plays so close they should have been reviewed. The Knights field general recognized this and rocketed his lightspeed offense to the line to beat out any opportunity to challenge the ruling on the field by snapping the ball for the next play. Following the two Davis catches was a well-placed corner pass to Dredrick Snelson Jr for a touchdown.

With the running game having an off night early, Milton had to throw more than UCF coach Josh Heupel probably preferred. His arm power was lacking compared to his normal form leading to some throws to coming out off-target. Fortunately, the field general had the benefit of his receivers bailing him out on some of his errant throws. His second touchdown pass to tight end Michael Colubiale was a lazy lob that could have gone to anyone. Colubiale was able to adjust and position himself to make the catch and score.

Towards the end, Milton started to add some more zip on his throws, but it led to an overthrown ball that was intercepted. He finished 17-for-33 for 312 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He also had seven carries for 19 yards and a touchdown. The load on UCF’s field general diminished greatly when one of the Knights’ running backs took over and had a breakout game.

Welcome to the party, Greg McCrae

Last year, Greg McCrae was a freshman walk-on, just getting on the roster and working from the ground up. He played sparingly over seven games. After having a strong spring practice session and spring game, coach Josh Heupel awarded McCrae with a well-deserved football scholarship and a spot in his running back committee. This year, McCrae has more than doubled his output from 2017. In fact, against Temple, McCrae ran for more than he did in all of 2017. Against the Owls, McCrae ran for 188 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. Eight of those carries were for over 10 yards. On the first drive in the third quarter, McCrae accumulated all 66 yards in the drive plus a touchdown on only three carries.

Temple came to play . . .

Being on the road always tacks on an additional degree of difficulty. Playing a ranked team on a long winning streak raises the stakes. In light of this, Owls had some trick plays in their arsenal that UCF was not prepared for. Temple ran one play with a shifted line where the guards and tackles lined up on the visitor-side hashmark while the center and a pair of tight ends set up between the hashes. This led to an end-around for a 16-yard gain. Temple also ran a fake field goal that quarterback Anthony Russo, who was lined up as the holder, ran in for a 5-yard touchdown. Temple going 3-for-5 on fourth down helped keep the Owls ahead in the first half, 34-28.

Temple’s offense was hot. Russo ended up going 31-for-52 for 444 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, the second pick sealing the win for the Knights. Ryquell Armstead made his return after missing last week and was a major headache for the Knights defense, gaining 142 yards on 23 carries. Ultimately, the Owls outgained the Knights 670-630.

. . . UCF’s defense did not

The Knights defense looked slow and lost. Russo and the Owls were able to pick apart the defense in the first half, gaining 445 yards of offense, including 277 yards and three touchdowns by Russo and another 99 yards on the ground by Ryquell Armstead. Russo had multiple completions where he took advantage of UCF playing man-to-man. The linebackers were too slow to keep up with Temple’s slot receivers and running backs. The second half was a little better, but not much. UCF did manage to force a turnover to continue their two-year-plus streak. The defense also played very reactively where they stayed home on pass plays and watched as Russo tucked the ball and ran. The defense wouldn’t react until he was five yards downfield.

Towards the end, the defensive line started making some key plays. Trysten Hill recorded a pair of sacks and another pair of tackles for loss while getting a goal-line carry on offense. Hill’s going to half to learn to lower himself to be more effective in the jumbo offensive package. Both Joey Connors and Kyle Gibson caused a lot of disruption behind the line of scrimmage as well.

The defense has some not too pleasant stats to address: UCF’s opponents have scored first for the fourth straight game. To make matters worse, for the third straight game, the Knights trailed after the first quarter and for the second straight game, the opposing quarterback threw for over 400 yards.

The home-field advantage makes a big difference

UCF had the benefit of playing at home and will be at home for the next two games before closing at rival South Florida on Black Friday. While the weeknight game hurt attendance, the crowd was loud and that helped create a lot of penalties for the Owls. Temple ended up committing 14 penalties for a huge 149 yards. While a number of these were personal fouls and pass interference penalties, there were some key false starts that made material impacts on the game.

The Knights host Navy next week. While a heavy triple option running team, the Midshipmen were able to beat the Knights throwing deep when the corners were too focused on the run. The coaching staff will have their work cut out for them to make corrections from the Temple win.

Random tidbits (There’s a lot)

*UCF has now won 21 straight games.

*UCF has scored 30 points or more in 21 consecutive games.

*UCF has scored at least 40 points for the 5th time in eight games and for the 14th time in the last 21 games.

*UCF has a 12 home-game winning streak.

*McKenzie Milton has thrown a touchdown pass in 21 straight games. He is one game shy of tying Daunte Culpepper for second in program history.

*Milton recorded the 18th rushing touchdown of his career, which is third in program history for a quarterback.

*Milton threw his 12th 300-yard game, which is third in program history.

*Milton’s 321 yards of total offense passed Darin Hinshaw for third in career total offense.

*Milton’s 17 completions moves him past Blake Bortles for fourth in all-time completions.

*Neville Clarke’s 3rd quarter interception extended UCF’s streak of forcing a turnover to 27 games. This streak started in 2016.

*The opening drive of the second half for UCF was the Knights’ 12th scoring drive this season that took under one minute of game time.

*Temple head coach Geoff Collins is a former UCF assistant coach under George O’Leary (2008-09)

*Game attendance was 41,153

I’ve been writing off and on since 2003, where I first wrote for Southern College Sports. After a hiatus, I returned in 2012 with The Sports Chronicles, a predecessor of NGSC Sports. After a brief stint with WBLZ in 2017, I returned to NGSC Sports before joining Blue HQ Media in 2018. Also, from 2015 to 2017, I helped run Off the Cuff, a sports program and blog with STLR Media. I have done radio and podcasts dating back to 2006 with The Student of the Game, an NFL podcast. In 2012, I cohosted TSC Saturday Night on the Sports Chronicles and The OT With Andrew G on WTMY in Sarasota, FL. I later moved the OT to NGSC Sports until 2014 where I started The College Cram, also on NGSC Sports. After a brief hiatus, I returned to radio in 2015 with both Off the Cuff on STLR and The Mad Scientist Sports Lab on The Inscriber.