UCF Football: McKenzie Milton carted off field after gruesome injury

It was expected to be one of those confidence-building games for UCF football, but it turned out to be a nightmare as McKenzie Milton went down.

Some things are just bigger than sports, or undefeated records or even self-proclaimed national championships. For UCF, it was all about the health of star quarterback McKenzie Milton on Friday evening as he went down with a horrific injury against rival South Florida.

It was a designed run to his right which put the dual-threat at risk, but it was a play he had run hundreds of times before. This time, however, would be his last of the 2018 season.

As he was being tackled, his right leg twisted in the knee area in an obviously incorrect direction, leaving fans, announcers, players and coaches speechless. You could hear a pin drop in the stadium as he lay almost lifeless on the turf with his leg twisted — warning: the previous link is a very graphic video of the injury (view at your own risk).

The junior quarterback has had a fantastic career with the Knights and, like Kevin McGuire said, I’d be shocked if he came back at any point this season because, well, legs aren’t supposed to bend that way.

Luckily for the Knights, and for Milton, he’ll get another crack at closing out his UCF career the right way, if he does decide to return. This is the type of injury that would kill a player’s draft stock, so there’s a good chance this will force him to return to try and rehab and get that leg back to full strength.

Milton had led the Knights to a 10-0 record heading into Friday night’s rivalry game and there was a good chance he would have finished his second straight season with an unbeaten record under center.

Thoughts are with the talented quarterback as he works toward a speedy recovery and hopefully one that doesn’t hamper his career endeavors.