Knights look to stop recurring nightmare FIU

Fumbling their way to a loss after nearly stunning the Maryland Terrapins, the Knights will look to regroup this Saturday against an FIU team that’s been a nightmare in the past. It’ll be a rebound game for the Knights, just scant days after letting a win slip through quarterback McKenzie Milton’s fingers.

Three hours and 55 minutes after kickoff, the Knights were left standing on their home football field, after miracle catches and daring fourth down attempts, vanquished in a double overtime thriller in the Bright House Sept. 17.

The Maryland Terrapins had entered the stadium 11-point favorites riding a two game winning streak, facing a UCF team that had never hosted an opponent from the Big Ten. What would result was a 30-24 walk-off win for the Terrapins, just moments after a controversial call that stole the ball out of the Knights’ hands after they had driven to Maryland’s 2-yard line.

The Knights had done their best to bamboozle the favored Terrapins for most of the game, outgaining them 455 yards to 373. The Knights’ freshman quarterback, McKenzie Milton, in his first field time in a college football jersey, electrified the UCF offense while also proving its doom. Milton would out-gun Maryland 250 yards to 127. He would also fumble the ball four times, of six total by the Knights in the game. Three of those fumbles were lost to the Terrapins, including the Knights’ final play on offense, which would become the death blow in the game.

“We were basically shooting ourselves in the foot, and we can’t do that against a Big Ten team like Maryland,” UCF receiver Tre’Quan Smith said.

Milton’s final two fumbles of the game kept the Knights’ hopes alive, then destroyed them. In the third quarter, at the Maryland 3-yard line, Milton bobbled a handoff and was forced to scoop the ball up off the ground and scramble. That improvised scamper crossed the goal line and gave the Knights a 14-10 lead.

But after the Terrapins fought back and the Knights took a 17-17 stalemate into overtime, then 24-24 into double overtime, the Knights were two yards out from the end zone when disaster struck again. Milton attempted a pass which appeared to be slapped down by an onrushing defender as it left his hand, but no whistle blew. In the confusion Maryland’s Kingsley Opara ran to pick up the ball before he was tackled. Officials would rule the play a fumble with Maryland recovering, ending UCF’s drive and giving Maryland the ball at UCF’s 24-yard line.

After the game UCF head coach Scott Frost would speculate that the ball “slipped out of his hand,” though that was disputed on the field.

On the very next play, backup Terrapins QB Tyrrell Pigrome, replacing injured starter Perry Hills, dashed through traffic up the middle and into the end zone, winning the game the moment he crossed the goal line.

“We’re beating ourselves with turnovers,” Frost said. “[We] had way too many today.”

Half of UCF’s fumbles would be picked up by Maryland, with two resulting in a Maryland touchdown on the ensuing drive.

But in between those offensive blunders the Knights electrified the crowd with a combination of fast play and daring calls. The Knights attempted five fourth-down conversions, pulling off three of them. They faked two punts. After a false start penalty sent the Knights back to first-and-15, Milton handed the ball to running back Dontravious Wilson, who rifled a pass downfield to Tre’Quan Smith, who in a game full of highlight reel catches managed to let the on-target pass slip through his hands 20 yards downfield.

Coming up the Knights will face a ghost from their past. The FIU Panthers triggered the chain reaction last season that would eventually give UCF the worst record in FBS football. The Knights lost to FIU 15-14 in the 2015 season opener, an anomaly that few knew was a harbinger of the second worst season in UCF’s history in the top tier of college football.

That’s the second time FIU played an instrumental role in a catastrophic season collapse for the Knights. The Panthers scored a shock 17-10 upset on Sept. 17, 2011, in what was expected to be a blowout by the Knights — fresh off a bowl upset of Georgia the season before. The Knights had just started the season on two straight landslide wins before they went to Miami and fumbled their way to a loss. Following that upset the Knights, fresh off one of their best seasons in team history, went on to a 5-7 record and no bowl bid.

Will FIU play spoilers again? The Knights enter the game with a 1-2 record after a heartbreak loss in double OT. The Panthers started the season 0-3, letting a third quarter touchdown by UMass upend them 21-13 last week.

The teams have both faced Maryland, with the Knights netting 455 yards on offense vs. the 372 yards collected by FIU. The Knights allowed 373 yards by Maryland while FIU allowed 477.

Winter Park football

The Wildcats have rebounded with a vengeance after losing their first game of the season, now on a three-game path of destruction after destroying Colonial 42-0 on Sept. 16.

The epic win came courtesy of Cameron Legree’s right arm and both legs as he threw for 108 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 100 yards on just nine carries, finding the end zone one more time.

That’s not to discount the efforts of Jordan Pouncey, who raced for 84 yards and a touchdown himself, averaging 12 yards per carry. Dre Williams was nearly untouchable on kick returns, taking a kickoff back for 86 yards to the end zone, and a punt for another 40 yards.

The Wildcats continue their season-long road trip with a drive to Wekiva for a 7 p.m. kickoff this Friday. The Mustangs are 2-2 after losing 19-7 to Timber Creek last week.

Edgewater football

The Eagles’ nightmare season turned a bit less bleak as they lost 52-21 to Ocoee last Friday, scoring more than three times as many points in one game as they had in the previous three games combined. After a bye week, Edgewater (0-4) will return home to host West Port (1-1) from Ocala at 7 p.m. Sept. 30.