(Photo by Adrian J. Hernandez / New Day Review)
ORLANDO, Fla. – While coaches and players spoke at the American Athletic Conference’s media day about their season goals, there was one noticeable item in the backdrop: a “P6” logo. Recently, there has been an initiative taken by the AAC to prove it belongs in the conversation for one of the top conferences in the country.
On Saturday, the University of Central Florida (1-0) has a chance to help prove that, as the Knights travel to Big Ten country to take on the University of Maryland (2-0).
“It is fun watching a lot of these teams from our conference and other Group of Five schools winning games against Power Five teams,” UCF head coach Scott Frost said at the team’s game-week presser on Sept. 18. “And I think our players are always gonna have a little bit of chip on their shoulder when we go play games like this and wanna come away with one of these wins.”
Last season, UCF and Maryland met for the first time ever, as the Terps escaped Orlando with a 30-24, double-overtime victory. The loss was UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton’s first-ever collegiate start. The then-true freshman fumbled six times, losing three, and threw an interception to go along with his three touchdowns.
That loss is something that still hurts some UCF players, and they are looking to avenge it this year.
“We come into this game angrier than from last year ‘cause they got us in double overtime,” sophomore center Jordan Johnson said after practice on Sept. 18. “And I just remember that game—I do remember it. And I remember the feeling that I had after the game more than anything. I just felt sick to my stomach that we really just lost in double overtime. And we were in it the whole time, and just, like, a string of events right at the end made us lose.”
Avenging last season’s loss is just one contributing factor to the Knights’ eagerness to play Maryland. A more compelling motivation is the fact that Maryland, a Big Ten school, is a Power Five team.
“Big Ten team, that’s a big role, and, plus, from last year, what happened in overtime, we definitely wanna come back this year and not have that happen,” redshirt senior inside linebacker Chequan Burkett said after practice on Sept. 18.
As for this season, Maryland is led by their second-ranked scoring offense, rushing for 315 yards per game. Only the No. 1 Knights, who scored 61 in their season-opening thumping of the FIU Panthers, are ahead of the Terrapins. Maryland’s offense is a challenge that Knights defensive coordinator Erik Chinander welcomes.
“I mean, I think that’s always a challenge we want, right? We don’t want somebody that’s averaging 100 yards a game,” Chinander said after practice on Sept. 19. “We want the best of the best. You want they heavyweight championship. You gotta beat the champion sometimes. So it’s gonna be a good one. I’m excited.”
On the other side of the ball, Knights offensive coordinator and wide-receivers coach Troy Walters is expecting a shootout between the nation’s top, on-paper offenses. Both teams scored more than 60 points in each of their most recent games, as the Terps scored 63 in a win over Towson University in Week 2.
“And we told the offense this week, ‘We have the No. 1 scoring offense. They’re No. 2.’ So we can’t turn the ball over,” Walters said after practice on Sept. 19. “We can’t give ‘em short fields. We gotta take care of the football, and I think [Milton] knows that. He knows the offense, so he’s able to make better reads. And we’re better around him than we were last year. We got more weapons. Offensive line is better. So we’re a better football team.”
Saturday’s game will be the Knights’ second game of 2017 and their first road trip, too. UCF was originally scheduled to play the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, but it was officially cancelled because of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
Going against a Power Five team is not something the team takes lightly. They see it as an opportunity to prove they belong with the big programs.
“I feel like this is the game to show the world what we can actually do,” junior wide receiver Cam Stewart said after practice on Sept. 18. “I feel like we can be that team to be up there, and this is gonna be that step we need to take to see where we at—where we are to see what we’re gonna look like in our further schedule coming up this fall.”
Kickoff on Saturday is set for 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on FS1.
For more on the Knights, as they take on their first road opponent of the season in Maryland, follow Ryan Weiss on Twitter at @NDR_RyanWeiss.
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