There was intrigue in the air going into the 56-17 UCF victory over the UConn Huskies. Not just from fans hoping for the strong season open they got, but from the answering of offseason questions. Would the offense be as fast under new head coach Josh Heupel? What will the defense look like without 2017’s leaders in sacks and interceptions under new defensive coordinator Randy Shannon? We were able to learn a lot about the Knights in their first regular-season outing.

Heupel’s offense produced as advertised with McKenzie Milton launching 342 passing yards for 5 touchdowns. Some were distributed over the usual suspects such as running back Otis Anderson and wide receiver Gabriel Davis. Running back Greg McCrae lived up to the buzz he created in the spring game catching a 36-yard score. The biggest surprise on the night was wide receiver Tre Nixon who led his team with 101 yards on five catches and two trips to the end zone.

probably fair to assume this won’t be the last mckenzie milton to the nixon connection in 2018 pic.twitter.com/5m3Wb8B7Jo — patrick mayhorn (@patrick_mayhorn) August 30, 2018

The Knights also managed three trips for six on the ground as well by Anderson, running back Adrian Killins, and back up quarterback Darriel Mack on a single 70-yard sprint.

Shannon’s defense allowed over two hundred yards rushing, but with Davis Pindell as the man under center for UConn, it’s not surprising they featured the ground game. While the yardage allowed is deceptively high, UCF recorded three turnovers against an offense with was on the field for 17 more snaps. In short, UCF was scoring so fast, the defense ended up taking the field 16 more minutes.

Linebacker Pat Jasinski had mentioned at last Saturday’s press conference that they expected Pindell to run and were playing to prevent the big play. Jasinski certainly did his part to that end leading the team in tackles with 11 while recording a forced fumble and a pass defended.

Kyle Nash, known as The Student of the Game, covers UCF Football for SportsMediaPass.com and is a special contributor for Break the Fourth. He’s a also a writer for the DolphinsWire of USA Today and co-host of the DinnerTime and Default Assault podcasts.