Knight rise in rankings

The UCF Knights are the highest they’ve ever been ranked in national polling after destroying UConn in a 62-17 rout Oct. 26 at home. The Knights hadn’t been home for a month while they rocketed into the top 25 standings of four NCAA FBS polls in the wake of a 38-35 shocker over Louisville on Oct. 18. After annihilating UConn, it only got better.

The Knights are No. 16 in ESPN.com’s Power Rankings, the highest they’ve ever ranked. They’re also ranked highly in the BCS Standings (No. 23), AP Top 25 (No. 19) and USA Today College Coaches Poll (No. 22), thanks to the dominating win that put them at 6-1 on the season and 3-0 in the AAC, in which they share the lead with Houston.

“Each week you have to treat it like a championship game,” Head Coach George O’Leary said he’d told his players. The Knights wouldn’t let up against UConn.

Despite playing a UConn Huskies team that hadn’t won a game all season, the Knights still managed to jump up a few notches in the standings, thanks in part to strong play on the offensive side that saw the Knights jump out to a 45-10 lead by the end of the half. They held and even extended that lead while platooning second stringers for most of the second half.

By the time he had left the game midway through the third quarter, quarterback Blake Bortles had thrown for 286 yards with four touchdown passes, a 16-yard third-down touchdown run, and zero interceptions. Coming in to replace him, freshman backup quarterback Justin Holman threw for 65 yards and a touchdown pass, though he did throw the Knights’ only interception of the game.

With the broad lead, the Knights even had chances to try some unusual Wild Knight plays, putting wide receiver Jeff Godfrey back in at quarterback for a couple of snaps to test out new plays.

But it was at receiver where Godfrey shined, catching three touchdown passes in the game, two of them acrobatic catches that seemed to defy gravity. Elusive receiver J.J. Worton went 119 yards on six receptions to lead the Knights on the receiving corps, including a tackle-breaking 61-yard scamper that took him all the way to the end zone to start the third quarter.

Kicker Shawn Moffitt even showed some leg in the game, extending his 9-for-9 season with a 50-yard field goal that he drilled dead center.

Defensive back Sean Maag had an unusual game in which he only grabbed one tackle, but picked up a fumble and an interception. Defensive end Troy Gray made a diving catch of his own for an interception.

The Knights take another week off before hosting Houston at 7 p.m. Nov. 9.