Dr. Blackwell's BLOG

The UCF Knights (4-0; 1-0 AAC) dismantled the Panthers of Pittsburgh (2-3; 1-1 ACC) 45-14 in front of a sold out crowd at UCF’s Spectrum Stadium on Saturday, extending the nation’s longest win streak to 17!

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — McKenzie Milton threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns and No. 13 UCF extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 17 games with a 45-14 rout of Pittsburgh on Saturday. A week after accounting for six TDs in a lopsided victory over Florida Atlantic, Milton also ran for two scores to give the junior from Kapolei, Hawaii, seven TDs passing and five rushing in his past two games.

UCF (4-0) now moves into the heart of its American Athletic Conference schedule, hoping to go undefeated for the second straight year to play its way into consideration for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Pitt (2-3) has had a knack for stunning teams with national title aspirations in recent seasons, however the Panthers were no match for a Milton-led offense that’s scored at least 30 points in every game during its school- and AAC-record winning streak.

Running back Adrian Killins, Jr., scored on a 71-yard reception, and Milton tossed TD passes of 24 yards to Gabriel Davis, 2 yards to Michael Colubiale and 13 yards to Otis Anderson. Pitt surprised eventual national champion Clemson on the road two years ago. The Panthers ended a disappointing 2017 season by defeating unbeaten Miami, which at the time had the longest winning streak in the country and was in contention for a CFP berth.

The Panthers scored on Maurice Ffrench’s 58-yard catch-and-run and Rafael Araujo-Lopes’ 86-yard punt return. Milton was 18 of 34 passing with no interceptions. Kenny Pickett was 16 of 26 for 163 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Pitt, which was limited to 109 yards rushing.

One of the ways the Panthers had hoped to slow Milton was with an effective running game that helped them kept the UCF quarterback off the field for long stretches. That never materialized. The Knights ran 47 plays to Pitt’s 28 in the opening half, outgaining the Panthers 316 yards to 114, including 119-36 rushing.

Check out highlights from the game, courtesy of the American Athletic Conference Digital Network, below:

The UCF Knights (3-0; 1-0 AAC) soundly defeated the Owls of FAU (2-2; 0-0 C-USA) Friday night in front of a near-capacity and rowdy Spectrum Stadium and national audience:

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — McKenzie Milton ran for a career-best three touchdowns while throwing for three more, helping No. 16 UCF extend the nation’s longest winning streak with a 56-36 rout of Florida Atlantic on Friday night.

The junior from Kapolei, Hawaii, completed 21 of 32 passes for 306 yards without an interception, and the Knights (3-0) won for the 16th straight time to set a record for consecutive victories by an American Athletic Conference team.

Milton scored on runs of 12, 9 and 13 yards, using a nifty jump cut to avoid a defender and get into the end zone on the last one.

Touchdown passes of 12 yards to Dredrick Snelson, 21 yards to Marlon Williams and 19 yards to Gabriel Davis hiked Milton’s career total to 56 — tied with Blake Bortles for fourth-most in school history.

FAU (2-2) stayed close for a half, but ultimately couldn’t keep pace with the prolific UCF offense. Devin Singletary rushed for 131 yards and three TDs for the Owls, who finished with 320 yards on the ground.

UCF led 21-17 at the half, letting a two-touchdown lead slip away and falling behind on a second-quarter field goal before regaining control on Milton’s TD pass to Williams.

The Knights used an early interception to set up Milton’s first TD run and then drove 92 yards in 10 plays to go up 14-0 on Snelson’s TD reception midway through the first quarter.

But FAU, which won the Conference USA title in its first season under coach Lane Kiffin, was unfazed.

Chris Robison settled down after throwing the interception that led to UCF’s first touchdown and fed the UCF defense a steady diet of Singletary. The Owls battled back by putting together a couple of time-consuming scoring drives that kept Milton off the field.

Singletary’s first touchdown finished an 11-play, 71-yard march. The Owls also held the ball for six minutes, driving 54 yards to position Vladimir Rivas to kick a 32-yard field goal for a short-lived 17-14 lead.

Robison was intercepted three times and finished 13 of 26 passing for 124 yards, including a 23-yard TD throw to Kerrith Whyte late in the third quarter.

Milton finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting last season, when he helped UCF go 13-0, including a victory over Auburn in the Peach Bowl. With UCF trailing 17-14, he took over the game by going 4 of 4 for 74 yards on the Knights’ go-ahead drive and then ran for a pair of scores in the third quarter to build the lead to 35-17.

UCF hosts Pitt next Saturday in its final nonconference game.

The #19 UCF Knights (2-0; 1-0 AAC) soundly defeated SC State (0-2; 0-0 MEAC) 38-0 on Saturday night in front of a packed Spectrum Stadium. The Knights now move on to face ACC opponent UNC (0-2; 0-0 ACC) on Saturday in Chapel Hill, Hurricane Florence allowing.

Adrian Killins Jr. ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns to help No. 19 UCF rout South Carolina State 38-0 on Saturday night for its 15th straight victory, tying the American Athletic Conference record. Killins Jr. scored on runs of 3 and 24 yards in the first quarter. Greg McCrae rushed for 62 yards and a touchdown, and Otis Anderson added 42 yards and a touchdowns as UCF (2-0) racked up 315 rushing yards.

McKenzie Milton threw three interceptions in the first half. He was 21 of 39 for 243 yards with a touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis in the third quarter. UCF held South Carolina State (0-2) to 80 yards passing and 257 total yards. South Carolina State quarterback Tyrece Nick was 5 of 12 for 54 yards and an interception. Backup Dewann Ford threw two interceptions.

Check out video highlights of the game, courtesy of the American Athletic Conference Digital Network, below: