(Photo by Adrian J. Hernandez / New Day Review)
Knights Waiting for Birth of Scott Frost’s 1st Child
University of Central Florida head coach Scott Frost and his wife are awaiting the birth of their first child. The Frosts’ baby was due sometime during the weekend, as Frost was prepared to leave a 31-24 win over the SMU Mustangs mid-game, if necessary. Thanks to a UCF booster, the second-year head coach had a private plane on standby in case he received a call from his wife notifying him she was in labor.
Throughout Week 10 preparation for SMU, Frost said he “had a lot going on right now.” With his mother-in-law in town staying with his wife, Frost is, now, more at ease.
HC SCOTT FROST: “Yeah, you know, we got good relationships in our building, right now, and I think the players are excited for me, and I’m grateful for ’em for that. That’s my job is to go with them. So I was gonna be with them no matter what unless the call came, and the call didn’t come, so the players—I told ’em afterwards I was—I thanked ’em for making this week a little easier and more special for me.”
OL JORDAN JOHNSON: “Lot of guys making jokes about it, calling him Daddy Frost and stuff. And saying that he’s gonna name the child ‘Jack’ so he can be Jack Frost. It was funny.”
For Knights, CFP Rankings ‘Low-balled’ UCF in Initial Release
On Oct. 31, the first College Football Playoff rankings were released. The undefeated Knights, then 7-0 and 4-0 in the American Athletic Conference, were listed at No. 18 after a school-record, 73-point winning performance over FCS Austin Peay State University on Oct. 28.
UCF is coming off a narrow win over SMU, its closest of the season, putting up 615 yards behind McKenzie Milton’s career-high 412 passing yards. However, UCF mustered just 31 points, nearly 20 points below their perennial, nation-leading 50 points-per-game average. The next rankings CFP rankings will be released on Tuesday.
OL JORDAN JOHNSON: “We take it as a challenge to step up and show them that we’re a lot better than they think we are. And we know that they low-balled us, but we try not to think about the rankings. We just go out and play football against the team that they line us up against.”
DL JOEY CONNORS: “Yeah, I mean, I saw a lot of people were upset about it and stuff, but, I mean, for me, and, like, the D-line, I know we didn’t really pay much attention to it. I mean, Coach Frost has kinda told us don’t really pay attention to that. I mean, people do, on the team, pay attention to it, but, me, personally, and the D-line, we try not to look at it. We just wanna do our job and get the win just week by week. We take one week at a time.”
McKenzie Milton’s 2 Interceptions Against SMU Was His Season-high
Despite his career-high passing-yards number, Milton also threw a season-high two interceptions against an SMU team that was ranked 122nd out of 130 FBS teams in pass defense, allowing 278 passing yards per game. Milton finished with a season-high in attempts, also, going 23-for-40 when he dropped back.
In the midst of his relative struggles, the Knights’ defense improved its play as the game waned on, holding the Mustangs scoreless in the fourth quarter and on their final three drives. Milton will have another opportunity against another porous pass defense when the Knights host the UConn Huskies on Saturday at noon. After 10 weeks, the Huskies rank 130th in pass defense, allowing 378.6 yards per game and the most passing touchdowns this season (28).
DL JOEY CONNORS: “Yeah, I mean, once it happened to McKenzie, we told him—he was running off, and, you know, a couple of us went to him and said, ‘Hey, man. We got your back. Don’t worry about it. Move onto the next series. We have your back. We’re right behind you. Don’t worry about it. You’ve had our back all season. I got your back.’ And, you know, he’s—I know they’re over there correcting whatever they need to correct, and, you know, we have their back. They have our back, we have their back.”
WR TRE’QUAN SMITH: “Honestly, the offense and defense talk a lot. And just knowing that they came to us, like, ‘C’mon, guys. You guys got this. And you already know we got y’all back.’ Like, honestly, we just talking about it. Me and [Jamiyus Pittman] and Shaquem [Griffin’s] talking about it, and we was like—it’s basically like we traded places from last year. Basically, last year, the defense was holding us down while we was trying to, you know, make sure we did our job. Now, y’all guys was holding it down. Now, it’s time for us to hold y’all down this game. Basically, they supported us. You know, we support each other through thick and thin.”
Adrian Killins Provides Knights with Clutch, Momentum-swinging Plays
Against the Mustangs, sophomore Adrian Killins provided UCF with a needed offensive boost. UCF struggled on offense early in the game, failing to score on its first drive for the second time this season. The Knights also failed to score on four drives inside SMU territory, including a late, fourth-quarter drive with just a slight seven-point lead.
Killins helped the Knights break a 14-14 lead with a 34-yard rushing touchdown late in the first half, his first of the game. After a second half-opening field goal by the Mustangs to cut the UCF lead to just 21-17, Killins struck again, bursting down the sideline for a 64-yard score. Killins finished with a game-high 145 yards and two touchdowns on a team-high 14 carries.
HC SCOTT FROST: “There’s a lot of fast guys out—well, there’s not a lot of fast guys, not a lot of guys as fast as A.K., but there’s a lot of people who can run. A.K.’s a great football player, too. And he uses his speed, obviously, but that one long run he had, you know, he had to make a couple really nice cuts. He had to break a couple tackles. I think that’s where he’s improved. It’s not just all about speed this year. He’s making good decisions, good cuts. He’s running strong, he’s breaking tackles. He’s just a really good football player, and I think he’s continued to improve through every week this season.”
Scott Frost Has No Idea Where the Civil Conflict Trophy Is Located
UCF and UConn have an awkward relationship, thanks mostly in part to former Huskies head coach Bob Diaco. Entering the 2015 season, Diaco announced a new rivalry between his former team and the Knights called the “Civil Conflict.” Despite two previous matchups, wherein the Knights won 62-17 on Oct. 26, 2013, and lost 37-29 on Nov. 1, 2014, Diaco started recording results on the trophy after a 40-13 UConn win on Oct. 20, 2015.
Last season, UCF won 24-16 over the Huskies, and Frost, then the Knights’ first-year head coach, and his team left the field without accepting the trophy. UConn hardly, if at all, recognizes the Diaco-manufactured rivalry anymore.
“I honestly don’t know [where the trophy is],” UConn athletic director David Benedict said, according to a story by the Bristol Press’ Neill Ostrout. “That trophy was there before I got there. I believe that trophy was commissioned and paid for by Coach Diaco. And, therefore, if it left with him, I don’t know that, but, if it did, that’s fine.”
HC SCOTT FROST: “No, [I don’t know where the ConFLiCT trophy is]. Somebody asked me on the press-conference phone call a minute ago where it is, and, yeah, I don’t wanna get into that too much. It was a big deal last year, but—yeah, whereabouts unknown, I would say. It’s definitely not here.”
For more on the Knights, as they prepare for their fifth-ever matchup with UConn, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
