This may be the scariest week for the UCF Knights in 2018. While it happens to tie in with Halloween, it has nothing to do with spooky stories or cool costumes. If anything, a “cool costume” works in their favor as the team is featuring special edition uniforms for “Space Night” and even a little love thrown to the original UCF logo, the Citronaut. But what draws fear for the Knight Nation heading into their nationally televised contest on Thursday night in Orlando against the Temple Owls is the status of quarterback McKenzie Milton.

The status on whether or not they start the star under center is currently at “wait and see” status as a game-time decision. While the Knights were able to easily vanquish the Pirates of ECU in their last game two Saturdays ago with Darriel Mack Jr. at the helm, the offense was run-heavy and lacked the balance of Milton-led teams.

🚀 STUDENTS 🚀 We can’t wait to see you back in the Bounce House on Thursday night for @UCF_Football‘s #UCFinSpace game! 🌌🌠 Claim your student ticket & purchase student guest passes here 👉 https://t.co/nohRnKEJ0j pic.twitter.com/5crod0qgI9 — UCF Knights (@UCFKnights) October 29, 2018

The concept of the player they call “KZ” on the bench against the Owls is only compounded by the fact that Temple has already knocked the Cincinnati Bearcats out of undefeated status earlier this season. UCF head coach Josh Heupel praised the prowess of his upcoming opponents. “They’re playing really good football,” he said. “They’ve won five out of their last six [and are] undefeated in conference play. They’ve gotten better every single week. A good indication of really good coaching and a team that’s really bought into what they’re doing“.

Defensive Titus Davis spoke more about what the Owls mentality translates to on the field. “. . . This will be my fourth time playing them and every year they’re very aggressive.” This is a sentiment that best accents one of the top Temple defensive players, Michael Dogbe. As a defensive lineman, he leads the team in three categories with eight tackles for a loss, six sacks and three forced fumbles.

Knights running back Taj McGowan still remained confident in the prospect of continuing his program’s win streak to 21. “I feel like if we go out there and we match [Temple’s] aggressiveness and we punch them in the mouth and let them know that we know we are going to get their best shot . . . I feel like we’ll be fine”.

While Milton’s status is currently questionable for UCF, the Owls top rusher Ryquell Armstead has missed the past two games and still remains as an unknown as far as his availability. None the less, should the Knights top quarterback not take the field, they may have a trap game on their hands.

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.