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UCF has a coach, quarterback and team on the rise
https://theathletic.com/108952/2017/09/23/ucf-football-mckenzie-milton-scott-frost/
Chris Vannini
Sep 24, 2017
UCF hadn’t played a game in the month of September, but it didn’t miss a step in its return, rolling to a 38-10 win at Maryland behind the kind of day coach Scott Frost expected when he recruited quarterback McKenzie Milton.
The Knights’ previous two games against Memphis and Georgia Tech were postponed and canceled, respectively, in wake of Hurricane Irma, so we hadn’t seen them since a 61-17 opening win against FIU on Aug. 31. Frost admitted this week he was curious how they would respond.
But the Knights picked up where they’d left off, rushing for 250 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, including two runs of more than 40 yards. The sophomore QB Milton was UCF’s leading passer and rusher. He went 18-for-30 for 178 yards and one touchdown in the air, paired with 94 yards on the ground on six rushes, featuring a 55-yard run.
Frost recruited Milton out of Hawaii as an Oregon assistant, but Frost and then-Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich offered Justin Herbert that year instead. Had the 5-foot-11 Miller been taller, Frost said, he likely would not have been available when Frost left the Ducks to become UCF’s head coach in December 2015. But knowing Milton was up for grabs, Frost reached out immediately after arriving in Orlando.
“He came to our Oregon camp two years in a row,” Frost told The All-American in the offseason. “I think if McKenzie had been 6-3, he would have been a top five quarterback in the country. That's the kind of player he was.”
Milton went through growing pains when injuries thrust him into the starting role a true freshman last year — throwing 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Frost said in the preseason that he needed Milton to consistently make the short throws, but he’s shown an explosive ability this year, completing three passes of more than 23 yards on Saturday, to go with his run.
Milton had 94 rushing yards on Saturday after gaining 158 all of last season. The UCF offense has four plays of at least 50 yards this season, all by McKenzie in the air or on the ground.
“He’s always just kind of had the intangibles,” Frost said. “He’s got confidence, he’s got the playmaking ability that’s rare. Last year, it was part him being 18 years old and part us not being good enough up front, but he had to improvise too much. This year he’s done a great job of playing within the offense, and then there’s been some times when he’s had to use his feet and then his arm and create things, and it’s been really impressive to watch him work.”
That was particularly the case in College Park, Md., on Saturday. Maryland’s opening win at Texas was big for D.J. Durkin’s program, but the Terps lost starting quarterback Tyyrell Pgrome in that one. Backup quarterback Kasim Hill started Saturday’s game, but only threw two passes with two runs before he was knocked out of the game on Maryland’s second drive with a right leg injury.
Third-string sophomore Max Bortenschlager was next man up, but the Terps never got much going with him. He finished 15-for-26 for 132 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Only two Maryland drives went longer than 35 yards, and they never got to within one score after UCF took a 14-3 lead in the second quarter.
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6:31 PM - Sep 23, 2017 · College Park, MD
UCF’s defense held Maryland to 42 rushing yards on 37 carries (1.1 per rush), highlighted by five sacks. The Terps’ longest play of the day went 20 yards, and only two plays went for more than 15 yards. UCF also held Maryland to 2-for-13 on third down and returned an interception for a touchdown in the final minutes.
The win sets up a huge early-season showdown in the American Athletic Conference on Sept. 30, as Memphis visits Orlando for the rescheduled affair.
Frost, who grew up in Nebraska and played college football for the Huskers and Stanford, will be linked to the Nebraska job for the rest of the 2017 season — he said during the week the talk flatters him and he roots for the Huskers — but he’s got a 2-0 team right now. He took the Knights from winless to a bowl game in his first season last year. Now, he’s got a team that could win the AAC.
https://theathletic.com/108952/2017/09/23/ucf-football-mckenzie-milton-scott-frost/
Chris Vannini
Sep 24, 2017
UCF hadn’t played a game in the month of September, but it didn’t miss a step in its return, rolling to a 38-10 win at Maryland behind the kind of day coach Scott Frost expected when he recruited quarterback McKenzie Milton.
The Knights’ previous two games against Memphis and Georgia Tech were postponed and canceled, respectively, in wake of Hurricane Irma, so we hadn’t seen them since a 61-17 opening win against FIU on Aug. 31. Frost admitted this week he was curious how they would respond.
But the Knights picked up where they’d left off, rushing for 250 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, including two runs of more than 40 yards. The sophomore QB Milton was UCF’s leading passer and rusher. He went 18-for-30 for 178 yards and one touchdown in the air, paired with 94 yards on the ground on six rushes, featuring a 55-yard run.
Frost recruited Milton out of Hawaii as an Oregon assistant, but Frost and then-Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich offered Justin Herbert that year instead. Had the 5-foot-11 Miller been taller, Frost said, he likely would not have been available when Frost left the Ducks to become UCF’s head coach in December 2015. But knowing Milton was up for grabs, Frost reached out immediately after arriving in Orlando.
“He came to our Oregon camp two years in a row,” Frost told The All-American in the offseason. “I think if McKenzie had been 6-3, he would have been a top five quarterback in the country. That's the kind of player he was.”
Milton went through growing pains when injuries thrust him into the starting role a true freshman last year — throwing 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Frost said in the preseason that he needed Milton to consistently make the short throws, but he’s shown an explosive ability this year, completing three passes of more than 23 yards on Saturday, to go with his run.
Milton had 94 rushing yards on Saturday after gaining 158 all of last season. The UCF offense has four plays of at least 50 yards this season, all by McKenzie in the air or on the ground.
“He’s always just kind of had the intangibles,” Frost said. “He’s got confidence, he’s got the playmaking ability that’s rare. Last year, it was part him being 18 years old and part us not being good enough up front, but he had to improvise too much. This year he’s done a great job of playing within the offense, and then there’s been some times when he’s had to use his feet and then his arm and create things, and it’s been really impressive to watch him work.”
That was particularly the case in College Park, Md., on Saturday. Maryland’s opening win at Texas was big for D.J. Durkin’s program, but the Terps lost starting quarterback Tyyrell Pgrome in that one. Backup quarterback Kasim Hill started Saturday’s game, but only threw two passes with two runs before he was knocked out of the game on Maryland’s second drive with a right leg injury.
Third-string sophomore Max Bortenschlager was next man up, but the Terps never got much going with him. He finished 15-for-26 for 132 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Only two Maryland drives went longer than 35 yards, and they never got to within one score after UCF took a 14-3 lead in the second quarter.
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6:31 PM - Sep 23, 2017 · College Park, MD
UCF’s defense held Maryland to 42 rushing yards on 37 carries (1.1 per rush), highlighted by five sacks. The Terps’ longest play of the day went 20 yards, and only two plays went for more than 15 yards. UCF also held Maryland to 2-for-13 on third down and returned an interception for a touchdown in the final minutes.
The win sets up a huge early-season showdown in the American Athletic Conference on Sept. 30, as Memphis visits Orlando for the rescheduled affair.
Frost, who grew up in Nebraska and played college football for the Huskers and Stanford, will be linked to the Nebraska job for the rest of the 2017 season — he said during the week the talk flatters him and he roots for the Huskers — but he’s got a 2-0 team right now. He took the Knights from winless to a bowl game in his first season last year. Now, he’s got a team that could win the AAC.
