Blink and you might just miss a touchdown down in Orlando.
In a pivotal clash of undefeated (in conference play) AAC squads on Thursday night, freshly ranked No. 12 UCF find themselves in big trouble for the second time this season as they trailed 34-28 after a fun first half against Temple that featured plenty of quick scoring drives, big plays and precious few stops of the clock for defensive purposes.
While the score line was not the greatest of news for the Knights, there was a positive note to begin the game with: star quarterback McKenzie Milton did start and didn’t look at all like somebody who has been limited in practice with an ankle injury and missed the team’s last game against East Carolina. More to the point, he looked like one of the most electric signal-callers in the country -- as he usually is -- in throwing for 233 yards and two touchdowns plus one score on the ground that game on a fourth down scramble.
UCF’s defense, however, was not up to quite the same level in allowing over 400 yards of offense to Temple in the half. Quarterback Anthony Russo was particularly impressive in throwing for 277 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for another as part of several hard-fought runs on the ground. Despite battling an ankle injury and needing to get a heavy tape job on his lower leg, Ryquell Armstead rushed for 96 yards and was picking up chunk after chunk when ever he had the ball in his hands.
It’s not just that the Owls are playing well with another AAC upset on their minds, they’re clearly going for it. For example, after receiving a penalty on a field goal attempt that extended an early drive, head coach Geoff Collins wound up calling for the fake field goal a few plays later that wound up with Russo scoring a touchdown to take a two-score lead. Penalties and a few issues in the red zone prevented the team from holding an even bigger lead going into the break but it was nevertheless quite a performance in a big spot.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee received a ton of questions about ranking UCF at No. 12 on Tuesday night and, roughly 48 hours later, the Knights are certainly in a position of having that number be rather short-lived this week if they don’t pick things up in the second half.
