Paying attention to your prodigal son, Nebraska? Where are your eyes at, Tennessee?
Entering Week 8 unbeaten and ranked 20th in the country, Central Florida was facing arguably its stiffest test of the season in the form of 5-1 Navy. After 60 minutes of play in Annapolis, the Knights are leaving town with a 31-21 win over the Midshipmen.
A pivotal moment came in the middle of the third quarter when, trailing just 21-14 and driving, starting quarterback and leading rusher Zach Abey was knocked out of the game. The junior, who had 126 yards on the ground prior to leaving did not return to the contest because of what looked to be a head injury.
The service academy was able to close the gap to 24-21 early in the fourth quarter, but a turnover gave the ball back to UCF with just over seven minutes remaining. Seven plays and 54 yards later, the Knights cashed in on the fumble recovery with a 10-yard Otis Anderson touchdown run that effectively put the game away with 3:30 left.
With the win, UCF is now 6-0 on the season, the first time they’ve won the first six games of a season in the program’s history.
As for the stock of Scott Frost, it does nothing but continue to rise. Taking over a program that was winless the year before he arrived, the Knights went 6-7 in his first season and are now ranked 20th in the country, behind only 16th-ranked South Florida in the group of Five.
Those two AAC contenders are on a collision course for a potentially epic regular-season finale -- one that could determine the G5’s lone New Year’s Six bowl bid. Before then, however, UCF needs to get past an FCS foe, SMU, UConn and Temple, while USF will have to take care of business against Tulane later on tonight as well as Houston, UConn and Tulsa.