After declawing the Panthers of Pitt 45-14 to extend their win streak to 17, UCF finds themselves ranked 12th in the AP Poll and still fighting for respect at the national level. Averaging nearly 49 points per game on offense and just under 17 points allowed on defense still isn’t enough for them to be taken seriously for any forecasts to put the Knights into the College Football Playoff. This falls in line so far with what I predicted when the preseason Coaches Poll came out.

UCF Coach Josh Heupel’s approach may seem like coach speak, but he’s exclaimed time and again that his football team needs to control what they can control. “College Football is week to week. [The goal is] to go 1-0,” he said at the Monday presser.

In order to go 1-0 this week for 18-straight victories, UCF will need to get past the Mustangs of SMU. Coach Heupel cited the challenges of Saturday’s opponent.

“Athletic quarterback. Dynamic playmakers out on the outside as their wide receivers. . . also great in the return game on special teams . . . [their] running back has the ability to take it the distance and they have an offensive line, especially there at the tackle position, who have a bunch of starts underneath them.”

With Coach Heupel citing athleticism and experience at multiple positions for the Mustangs, I asked defensive end Titus Davis if practicing against the Knights offense led by quarterback McKenzie Milton, who has won three AAC Offensive Player of the Week awards this season and the National Player of the Week last week, gives the defense an advantage.

“Honestly . . . without saying this in a cocky manner, I feel like we have the fastest offense in America,” Davis declared. “So just practicing against that prepares us for any fast-tempo offense across America. We look forward to playing anyone that’s similar to our offense because of things we see from the good athletes we have”.

If what Titus says is true for both sides of the ball, UCF should have a strong chance to continue winning on Saturday at 7 pm EST in Spectrum Stadium.

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.