UCF Football: McKenzie Milton continues Heisman march past FAU

1. The UCF defense is good enough to get the job done

Losing Shaquill Griffin and Mike Hughes to the NFL left two big holes in the UCF defense. Those two playmakers aren’t easily replaced, and a setback on the defensive front should be expected and forgivable.

The Knights allowed 25.3 points per game last season and through three games this season are doing an even better job. They held UConn and South Carolina State to 17 combined points before giving up 36 points on Friday night to Florida Atlantic. Still, through three games UCF is averaging less than 18 points allowed per contest. That’s going to win you a lot of games, even if you don’t have an offense as potent as the Knights’.

The test are going to get tougher, but FAU was thought to be one of the more challenging offenses in the Group of Five. If UCF was able to limit the explosiveness of the Owls, there isn’t much reason to believe that the likes of Pitt, SMU or Memphis (the Knights’ next three opponents) are going to be able to do much more. If you want to beat UCF, you’re going to have to score 50 points. So far, no one has come close.