First-year Owls head coach Lane Kiffin brought his squad to Orlando to face off against the UCF Knights for the first time in 15 years when Florida Atlantic was still an FCS school. This goes far enough back that previous matchup between these teams was played in the Citrus Bowl rather than Spectrum Stadium. That’s only where the narratives begin for UCF as they win 56-36.

Regardless of the history, the Knights were anxious to hit the field with the criticism of their performance against SCSU in a 38-0 victory in week two left to linger for another week after the cancellation of the game in the Chapel Hill against UNC.

Unfortunately, the scrutiny will likely stick around. Sure, the Knights came out strong in the opening two drives with touchdowns from quarterback McKenzie Milton running from twelve out and throwing one to Dredrick Snelson for a 12-yarder. But as the opening half played out, and the Owls were down “only” 21-17 with a paltry 29 passing yards.

Give credit to Owls running back Devin Singletary. Known as Motor around the FAU campus, Singletary finished the evening with 131 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns. He was the only player to break the end zone for his squad in the first two quarters.

UCF would pull away and take care of business in the second half, but success and expectations have finally begun to catch up with them. If the college football community begins to panic in a 38-0 win over SCSU, what about when a Conference USA team leaves the Knights trailing in a contest for the first time this season (albeit only lasting for 63 seconds of game clock).

Combine that with the USF Bulls toppling two Power Five schools, the Temple Owls toppling the Terrapins of Maryland while Hurricane Florence canceled UCF’s opportunity to beat the ACC’s North Carolina. Then come the whispers of whether or not the Black and Gold is the best team in Florida, if they can be beaten in their quest to the AAC Championship.

Until suddenly, the opposing celebrity coach says something like this.

“If UCF has a different logo on their shirt, you know, by their name that’s an SEC or ACC or something, you guys are voting them top probably six in the country,” FAU coach Lane Kiffin — UCF Marc Daniels (@ucf_marcdaniels) September 22, 2018

So long as members of the college community take notice, so long as someone pays attention and the Knights keep winning, the hopes of cracking the College Football Playoff stay alive. No matter the doubters in their program or those who don’t think the CFP will comply (myself included), the key to defying us all is to beat the Pitt Panthers next Saturday and keep the streak alive.

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.