The 25th ranked UCF Knights continues to tear up opposing defenses with Cincinnati being next in the line fire of the Knights offensive dominance as the Knights demolish Cincy 51-23.
They only played three quarters due to inclement weather, but there was no need to play the fourth quarter. Otherwise, the Knights would have put up 70 points with the way the game went.
The Knights got started early and often as the Knights scored on the games opening drive in a little over a minute and 30 seconds.
That continued throughout the entire game as the Cincy defense had absolutely no chance of maintaining the Knights offensive firepower.
McKenzie Milton went off again tonight, proving that not only he’s the real deal, but he may also be the best quarterback in the American Conference.
Milton had 282 yards passing and four touchdowns just in the first half alone. Not the whole game, but in one half. It makes you think here.
Milton had so much protection in the pocket that he had all day to play after play. Milton has come so far than where he was last year.
One of the best plays of the night for Milton was when he dropped back in the pocket and dropped an absolute dime to fifth-year senior Michael Colubiale.
Milton finished the night with 16-19, 374 yards, five touchdowns, which is a career high and no turnovers.
But Milton wasn’t the only one that was flexing on the football field for the Knights in this game.
Wide receiver, Tre’ Quan Smith was a man amongst boys in this game against Cincinnati. No one on Cincinnati could cover up Smith, absolutely no chance what so ever.
In the first half, Smith had two catches, 120 yards, and two touchdowns to ignite the ‘UCFast’ offense.
Smith continued to eat in the second half by getting another TD catch off another Milton dime dropping pass, as well as a TD run that threw off the Cincy defense. They did not see that one coming.
Smith finishes the night with five receptions, 165 yards, career-high three touchdowns and also rushed for one TD as well.
The Knights time of possession in this game was only 15:45 and they score 51 points in that time span. That just shows how the team now knows the offense inside and out.
Another impressive stat was that the Knights scored on all eight possessions on offense as well. That’s a mind-boggling stat in its own right.
There is one concern that needs to be brought up, and that was penalties. The Knights had too many penalties especially getting drawn offsides.
The Knights had five offsides penalty’s alone, including three straight plays towards the end of the first half. That will need to be addressed going into practice this week heading into the next game.
The Knights secondary also wasn’t as strong as they have been as of late during this game. They gave up 278 yards against Hayden Moore tonight, so that will have to be another focus. Other than that, the rest of the defense was on point and will look to continue that heading into next game.
After this game, the most prominent question that everyone will be wondering, where will the Knights be ranked when the next AP poll comes out? They should be a little hire, especially after what has transpired but how far will they go up? Will they be in the top 20? We’ll just have to wait and see what happens there.
In the end, this is another big win for the 25th rank UCF Knights, another statement win that makes it clear that they are here to stay.
The 25th ranked Knights are now 4-0 (2-0 AAC) on the year and will be returning home and will get ready to go up against East Carolina.
