On homecoming in Greenville, North Carolina, the UCF Knights continued their winning ways by defeating the East Carolina Pirates 37-10. It wasn’t pretty, but it’s knee-jerk reaction worthy.

No shirt, no shoes, no Milton, no problem

The rumor mill shortly before the game was buzzing that McKenzie Milton was not going to start. The rumors turned out to be true as Darriel Mack Jr started for the Knights. Mack looked the part of a backup quarterback, lacking the timing and chemistry that the starters have with Milton. Mack ended up only throwing for 69 yards on 12-for-20 passing. Third-string QB Quadry Jones came in on one play and passed for 42 yards and a touchdown. UCF kept the playbook relatively conservative in the second half, focusing on running the ball with occasionally opening the pass. While Mack looked like a backup throwing the ball, he was a battering ram on the ground leading all runners with 120 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown.

Heupel is worth the hype

As Randy Shannon earned his kudos last week with his second-half defensive adjustments against Memphis, Josh Heupel deserves recognition for making on-the-fly adjustments for UCF’s offense. With Milton out and Mack struggling, Heupel started throwing in some wrinkles and trick plays. One play, in particular, was a double pass from Mack to third-string quarterback Quadry Jones. Jones heaved it downfield to an open Adrian Killins Jr, who scampered for a 42-yard touchdown mentioned earlier. This was a tough situation with Milton being held out. ECU was viewed as the weakest opponent UCF will face the rest of the season and with twelve days until the Knights’ next game, Heupel wanted Milton to rest up for the final stretch.

Ultimately, with an inexperienced Mack at the helm, the pass didn’t work. By focusing on the run, UCF beat the ECU defense down and eventually started gaining chunk yardage, including a 71-yard touchdown by Greg McCrae in the fourth quarter. McCrae just missed out on a 100-yard game. The glaring stat to notice is the 2.9 yards-per-carry average for Adrian Killins Jr. Killins was not able to break free on the ground.

Bent, but not broken

UCF’s defense was on the field quite a bit. ECU ran 94 plays behind freshman quarterback Holton Ahlers appearing in his first career start. Ahlers threw for 392 yards on 29-for-54 passing with a touchdown and an interception. With just six short of 100 snaps on the night, the UCF defense had to work a lot and was tiring out. Despite the heavy workload, the Pirates had trouble creating sustained drives and allowed a struggling offense to work to find some rhythm without the pressure of coming back from behind. In the third quarter, cornerback Neville Clarke went down with an apparent knee injury and the Pirates were able to capitalize on it and score. While Clarke came back in the fourth quarter, the Pirates were still able to move the ball to the UCF 1 yard line. Ahlers tried a jump pass, but Kyle Gibson prevented him from making the throw and causing a fumble. Nate Evans recovered the fumble and ran 94 yards the other way for a UCF touchdown. The Knights defense forced 5 turnovers and scored 24 points on those turnovers.

Random Tidbits

*UCF has a 20 game winning streak.

*UCF has scored at least 30 points in 20 straight games

*UCF’s 20 game streak of 30 points is 5th longest in the AP Poll era dating back to 1936

*McKenzie Milton’s 27 game starting streak was snapped

*UCF has forced a turnover in 26 straight games

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.