Mike Hughes’ Heroics Lift UCF over USF to Complete Undefeated Regular Season

(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)

Game Recap

ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of South Florida proved to be the UCF Knights’ toughest test all season. Before the latest “War on I-4” matchup, the Knights had not faced a team when it was ranked and only were held scoreless in a quarter twice before facing the Bulls.

Fortunately for the Knights, they had Mike Hughes.

The No. 15 Knights (11-0, 8-0 in American Athletic Conference) defeated the rival Bulls (9-2, 6-2 in AAC) 49-42 on Friday night at Spectrum Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd to finish their first undefeated regular season in school history, winning the AAC East.

With UCF leading 42-34 with under two minutes to go, USF quarterback Quinton Flowers hit Darnell Salomon for an 83-yard touchdown. The Bulls converted the two-point attempt to tie the game with 1:41 remaining in the game. The next decision USF made cost the Bulls the game.

Instead of a squib kick or a touchback, the Bulls kicked the ball to Hughes. The first-year Knight, then, made a couple cuts and returned the kickoff 95 yards for the go-ahead, game-winning touchdown.

“Oh, yeah, man. We definitely needed a big play, and I knew once the ball was short and I had a couple cutback lanes, I knew it was over,” Hughes said after the game. “We had a good call, and, you know, those guys up front did a good job, and, you know, it was a lot of creases open. I just took the one across the field and scored…

“It’s surreal. It’s not on me. Those guys up front, they give their all just to block for me, and, you know, I give them credit by giving it my all running through the hole as fast as I can, and that’s what I did.”

With USF scrambling to tie the game late, the defense made one of its biggest plays of the year. After USF tight end Mitchell Wilcox caught a ball over the middle in UCF territory, safety Richie Grant forced a fumble, and linebacker Chequan Burkett recovered it, icing the game and allowing UCF to kneel the clock away.

The late-game drama didn’t start with Salomon’s 83-yard touchdown, however. With USF leading 34-28 with 8:08 left in the game, the Knights’ offense began a four-play drive that helped them take the lead, again. On a third-and-10 situation, quarterback McKenzie Milton fired a throw deep to an open Dredrick Snelson for a 45-yard score and the 35-34 lead.

UCF then made it an eight-point game behind Otis Anderson’s 23-yard receiving score, his second of the year. That seemingly gave the Knights all the momentum they needed to win the game, as UCF led 42-34 with 2:21 left in the game.

“Oh, it was basically a screen. The D-lineman tried to grab and stop it and disrupt it, but I got away from him, and, when I got it, it wasn’t really anybody in front of me except for my receiver and the DB,” Anderson said after the win. “I think it was Tre’Quan blocking. He did a great job blocking to spring me open and get a touchdown. And, really, that’s all that really mattered to me. I didn’t really care who scored, but it just so happened to be me, and I’m thankful for it.”

During the third quarter, USF took its first lead since scoring the first touchdown of the game in the first two minutes. After Darius Tice scored a six-yard rushing touchdown for the Bulls to cut the lead to 28-27, Milton threw his sixth interception of the season. Four players later, Flowers scrambled and made a cut for the middle of the field and ran for a 24-yard touchdown and a 34-28 lead with 3:41 left in the third quarter.

“You know, Quinton has a reputation for being a runner and not a thrower. He threw for 500 yards tonight. So, my hat’s off to that kid,” Knights head coach Scott Frost said after the win. “We busted some coverage, but he made some throws, too, now, and their receivers made plays. You know, if you’d have told me we’d had shut down the run game and scored that many points and struggled to win, I would’ve thought you were crazy, but he made the plays he needed to. Came down to the end, and, like I said, our guys just found a way to get it done.”

It only took USF three plays on its opening drive to score the first points of the game. Flowers found wide receiver Tyre McCants for a 47-yard score, as he dragged Burkett into the end zone with him.

The Knights answered the Bulls’ touchdown with one of their own on their first drive of the game. After USF’s defense warranted an unnecessary-roughness call that converted UCF’s third down into a new drive, Milton kept the ball on an option play for a three-yard score.

The Knights went on to score on all three of their first-quarter drives. Snelson reeled in a 16-yard pass from Milton, and Killins ran for a 10-yard touchdown to give UCF a 21-7 lead entering the second quarter. A second-quarter scoring drought let USF climb within one point before halftime.

“There were highs; there were lows. In the first quarter, I thought when we got the ball back 21-7 about midfield and the way we were moving the ball, I thought we were gonna go put it away early,” Frost said. “They made those adjustments on defense, and, you know, we kept getting stopped and not getting first downs by a yard and by a foot, and that was frustrating. Then they got back in the game, and then we scored in the third quarter, and then they scored a couple times. We threw a pick; they’re ahead.

“I said it before—I’m just so proud this team kept its cool, kept its clam and kept plugging, and usually championship teams find a way to get it done, and this team is a championship team.”

Player of the Game: DB Mike Hughes

Hughes was a bright on a UCF secondary that allowed Flowers to throw for a career-high 503 yards; Flowers’ previous high was 385 yards. The junior defensive back snagged an interception to close out the first half, recorded a game-high two passes defensed and helped the Knights take a late-game lead with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

What’s Next?

UCF hosts the 2017 AAC Championship Game at Spectrum Stadium on Dec. 2 against the University of Memphis. The Knights won 40-13 the last time Memphis visited Orlando in Week 5.

Knights Fans Produce 3rd-largest Crowd in Spectrum Stadium History

The Knights garnered 47,129 fans in their regular-season finale against USF. That was third-largest crowd Spectrum Stadium has seen and the fifth-largest home crowd in UCF history. After Snelson’s fourth-quarter score, fans lifted their lit phones before the ensuing kickoff.

Spectrum Stadium was so loud that UCF linebacker Shaquem Griffin said he couldn’t communicate with his defense at times.

“That crowd was loud,” Griffin said after the win. “I mean, there was times where we couldn’t here. I’m trying to yell, and Quan can’t hear me. I’m like, ‘Quan, I’m trying to tell you calls and stuff.’ He couldn’t hear me. But that just goes to show the crowd was there. That was our support system right there. It made it hard for them.”

UCF Completes 1st Undefeated Regular Season

The Knights secured their first perfect season in school history by beating the Bulls Friday night. This comes after an 0-12 season in 2015 and a 6-7 season, Frost’s first as head coach, in 2016. In 2017, the Knights have consistently been the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation and have maintained a top-30 defense that has produced the best turnover margin in the Football Bowl Subdivison.

“Going 11-0, you can’t do it with just a regular team,” Griffin said. “You gotta do it with family that you’re willing to fight for no matter what. Even though you against all odds and people say you can’t do it and saying it’s hard. We believe that we stay focused in each game, protect each other, work for each other, and, even when times was getting hard, we made sure we fought every step of the way.”

Said Frost on the Knights’ first perfect season: “This place is really special. And I saw a glimpse tonight of what it can be, and, you know, I go back to these players and these coaches. We started at the bottom two years ago, and I knew we could be good. I didn’t think it would happen this fast, but the guys went to work, and an undefeated season doesn’t happen very often, so I’m thrilled for the guys that they got to experience that.”

Scott Frost Wants Mckenzie Milton in the Heisman Discussion

Milton had another impressive game Friday night. The sophomore threw for 373 yards and four touchdowns on 66 percent passing. Despite praising Flowers for his 500-yard, five-touchdown performance, Frost made sure to bolster Milton’s praise.

“[Milton]’s lights out, and he’s not getting enough credit for what he does on the football field,” Frost said. “In my opinion, he should be in the Heisman race. If you look at his numbers and what he’s done—I’m not usually one to call attention to an individual player because it’s about the team and winning, and we have a lot of special players, but McKenzie Milton is one of the best quarterbacks in the country, bar none.”

Highlights

NDR Notes

• UCF was held scoreless in a quarter for the third time this season.
• Milton threw four touchdowns in the win over USF, finishing the regular season with 30 on the year. He passes former Knights quarterback Daunte Culpepper’s 28 touchdowns from 1998 for second-most in a single season in UCF history.
• The Knights hosted 47,129 fans for the win over USF, the third-highest attendance in the history of Spectrum Stadium and the fifth-highest in school history.
• UCF finished the regular season undefeated for the first time in school history.
• The Knights recorded nine tackles for loss, the second-highest total for UCF this season.
• Hughes is the first Knight since Quincy McDuffie in 2012 with multiple kickoff returns for a touchdown in a season.
• UCF became the fastest program to go from a winless season (2015) to an undefeated season (2017) in FBS history.

Scoring

Statistics

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

For more on the Knights, as they prepare for an AAC title game, follow Ryan Weiss on Twitter at @NDR_RyanWeiss.