Fans were excited when ESPN’s famed College Gameday show announced that were shooting in Orlando at the UCF Knights’ campus for their contest against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Cincy was the main competition in the AAC East division and the last hurdle for the Knights to host back-to-back AAC Championship games. Gameday panelist and former NCAA football coach Lee Corso described it best, “it’s a 48-hour infomercial for UCF”. The Knights dominated the Bearcats 38-13, but the takeaway from this game is even greater than a 23rd straight victory.

Cincinnati came into this contest as the sixth ranked defense in yards allowed. But the Knights defense delivered a complete performance against an offense boasting a 1,000-yard rusher, the Bearcats running back Michael Warren II. Throughout the year, UCF’s defensive has been criticized for missed tackles and yards allowed in games, but in this game, the squad was dominant up front making stops all over the field. They forced three fumbles, blocked a field goal attempt that was returned to the red zone, and helped hold Cincy to 127 yards passing as well.

When asked if this was his team’s best performance tackling, Knights head coach Josh Heupel said, “I agree except for one or two plays late in the ball game”. Coach continued on, “We played gap sound which doesn’t give anybody big gaps to run through. When you’re a tackler and there’s a tight space to make the play, it’s easier than when the guy has a bunch of space to run through you or run around you. . .”.

The defense was only half the story for the Knights. Quarterback McKenzie Milton and the offense felt the presence of Bearcat defensive lineman Cortez Broughten and that front seven early suffering sacks in each on their first two drives. The first one which resulted in a strip sack for a defensive touchdown. From that point on, it was all UCF all the time on the scoreboard as Cincinnati failed to put points on the board –even the extra point from Cincy’s only score was missed.

Turning in a 23rd straight win, a 23rd straight game with more than 30 points scored, and a 29th straight game with a takeaway is awesome in itself. Doing it for the biggest national audience they can muster from their campus while the game is being called by an analyst in Gameday panelist Kirk Herbstreit takes it to a whole other level. That is the stuff that can lift up for a program fighting desperately to maximize respect on a national stage.

No one here is saying that it will lift UCF to play in this season’s College Football Playoffs. I think the best case scenario is that the Knights are back-to-back co-national Champions with Alabama by way of the Colley Matrix. What the program is trying to battle for is the court of public opinion. To make the CFP committee understand that they look sillier with every bit of success that is achieved by this school. Getting tweets from those as critical of the program as Herbstreit helps.

Congratulations @UCF_Football on another big win. I was really blown away by your team and your home field advantage. From @CollegeGameDay to the game itself we had a great time. Thanks very much for having us. You all have a lot to be proud of. pic.twitter.com/G0iFlUKiqZ — Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) November 18, 2018

The problem is that the momentum dies should UCF fall next week to either the USF Bulls or in their likely matchup in the AAC Championship with the Memphis Tigers. Playing a team with one of the best running backs in the nation four times and beating that team four times in a calendar year is a challenge few in college football have faced.

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.