BCP, October 11, 2018– Undefeated UCF and USF have done a superb job of spreading the wealth on offense from the air to the ground game, with impeccable young team chemistry- of course not undermining the persistent defensive endeavors from both sides as well. Let’s look a little deeper as to why both organizations have had such success in their attacking productions in this 2018 CFB season.
As most of us have already acknowledged, AmericanPower6 added another accolade to the Chinese scroll-sized list- The American is the ONLY conference in FBS football with 3 unbeaten teams- UCF, USF, Cincinnati (all in East division).
“UCF is right behind Alabama without a doubt” ESPN analyst Andre Ware said during Knights’ broadcast in 48-20 victory vs SMU, per saturdaydownsouth.com.
UCF Alum apart of history in New Orleans- WHO DAT?!
Former UCF WR and NFL rookie TreQuan Smith tallied 111 yards on just 3 catches and 2 TD’s on primetime MNF. Smith caught first career touchdown with a 62-yarder from QB Drew Brees; Drew breaks out the NFL history book to surpass Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning’s record for most all-time passing yards in NFL history now with 72,103 yards and counting- well deserved by a true Pro class act and future HOFer.
Passing leaders through week 6-
UCF- 300.2 McKenzie Milton YPG
UH- 272.2 D’Eriq King YPG
USF- 262.6 Blake Barnett YPG
On the ground in the backfield, USF RB Jordan Cronkrite lands the 2nd spot in the Top 3 rushing leaders through week 6 with 151.5 YPG and American Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week. Also comes in at No. 1 in AAC’s four most exciting plays of week 6 with a break-away 76-yard run all the way to the house (1 of 3 scores and 302 yards’ vs UMASS). That close game against Massachusetts goes down as a USF and AAC single game rushing record performance!
Up in Central Florida, UCF improves to 5-0, 2-0 in their respected AAC conference- Milton threw for 278 yards and pair of TDs in SMU win. Junior RB Adrian Killins rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown. Adrian has racked up 346 yards on 56 carries along with 4 TD’s on the year, and leading catcher for UCF, Gabriel Davis has 365 yards and 4 end zone appearances this season. Not too far behind in the receiving game, are wide receivers Tre Nixon who has 312 yards and 3 touchdowns on the year, and Dredrick Snelson, with 269 yards and a pair of TD’s as well.
Stats on Stats on Stats (http://theamerican.org/):
UCF– Holds Nation’s longest active winning streak at 18 games- ranked No. 10 in AP TOP 25.
USF landed 23rd spot in AP TOP 25 and Coaches Poll.
USF’s Cronkrite’s 567 yards in last 3 games is second most ever for a Bull.
USF also lossless at 5-0 and 1-0 in conference, will take trek to Tulsa for second conference game this Friday night, after a shoot-out 58-42 victory at Massachusetts (UMASS).
UCF- 2nd in nation in 3rd down conversion pct., converting 60% of the time.
UCF has won every game by 20+ points- only other team in the country to accomplish this feat? Almighty Crimson tide Alabama.
USF SR WR Tyre McCants’ 15 career receiving TD are third most all-time at USF, while his 1,534 career yards are tied for 4th all-time. He set the USF game record with 227 yards on nine catches at UCF in 2017 and led the team in touchdowns (7) and ranked second in yards (686) and receptions (36) in 2017. Tyre has collected 300 yards and a pair of TD’s so far this season.
In 17 games under OC Sterlin Gilbert, USF has been out-gained in offensive yards just twice and is averaging 518.33 YPG & 37.9 PPG. The Bulls currently rank 20th nationally in total offense (487.4 ypg) and 32nd in scoring (37.2 ppg).
–USF QB Blake Barnett passed for 411 yards vs. Illinois, the second-best total in USF history, and accounted for 428 yards, the 7th best total. He is 27th in the NCAA passing (261.6 ypg), 26th in total offense (286.6) and 26th in points responsible for per game (16.0). Barnett has amassed 1,313 passing yards tallying 9 TD’s on 97 completions of 149 attempts thus far – also a top 3 rusher for USF as well with 120 yards and 4 touchdowns!
USF has produced 400 yards of offense or more in 14 of its last 15 games.
USF Green and Gold is averaging 41.9 PPG while going 12-2 in its last 14 games away from Tampa.
USF has scored at least 20 points in 35 straight games, the longest streak in the nation. Bulls 12-2 in games away from Tampa in last three years, averaging 41.9 PPG in those games.
USF looks to set new program record for wins in a 4-year period in Game 6. Bulls look to go 6-0 for second straight year.
UCF – After leading the nation in scoring last season with 48.2 PPG, UCF is currently seventh in the nation in scoring offense (48.6PPG) and third in the nation in total offense (574.4YPG).
Black and Gold-There are only five teams that rank in the Top 20 in the nation for scoring offense and scoring defense. Those two teams are UCF, Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Appalachian State.
Vaughan Sixbury, BCP Contributor