On a day when other favorites fell hard, UCF left nothing to chance. The Knights throttled East Carolina in Orlando to move to 5-0 on the year. By halftime the score was 42-14 in favor of the Knights, and they racked up three more touchdowns after the intermission. The 63-21 rout was UCF’s fifth straight win by at least 27 points.
McKenzie Milton put up 324 passing yards and two touchdowns on a 21-of-27 day. He needed just two and a half quarters to hit those numbers. Milton added another rushing score for good measure. Five different Knights ran in touchdowns on the day. Greg McCrae led the way with 67 yards and six points on a half-dozen carries in the second half.
UCF’s defense was generous in allowing nearly 350 yards of offense to the Pirates. But while the Knights gave up ground, they also made some big plays. Tre Neal returned Thomas Sirk’s only interception of the game 50 yards for a defensive score. Mike Hughes added a 66-yard punt return for another score, as UCF won in every phase of the game.
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A lot of the computer rankings formerly used in the BCS standings love UCF. Peter Wolfe putting the Knights at No. 5 and the Colley Matrix rating them at No. 6 in the country. While rival South Florida is ahead in the human polls, UCF would be far ahead in the BCS composite if it still held sway. They have looked the far better team, and the Knights leapfrog their rival into the top spot of this week’s Group of Five Power Rankings.