UConn Huskies at No. 18 UCF Knights

When: Saturday, 12:00 pm 

Where: Spectrum Stadium, Orlando (4465 Knights Victory Way)

TV: ESPNU

Coaches: UCONN--  Randy Edsall, 13th Season (3-6, 77-76 overall) UCF – Scott Frost, 2nd Season (8-0, 14-7 overall) 

About the matchup: 

It has been a big week for the undefeated UCF Knights (8-0, 5-0 AAC)—with Coach Scott Frost and wife Ashley welcoming in their first child early Wednesday morning.

Scott Frost was open about dealing with the added emotions when calling last week’s away game at SMU. Now that the baby has safely arrived the nerves have turned into happiness.

“The joy surrounding this surpasses anything I’ve experienced,” Frost told the media after practice on Thursday. “A lot of satisfying things have happened in my career but nothing matches the sheer joy of holding a baby for the first time.”

With that said this team has re-zoned in and is ready to make a charge when they host UConn Saturday afternoon.

And if you are wondering ..October 22, 2016 was the last time the Civil ConFLICT trophy was spotted. It was left behind on the Knights bench after UCF defeated the Huskies, 24-16 at Renshler Field. It made headlines this week as neither university could offer up its whereabouts.

Regardless the Knights walk into Saturday’s contest as a heavy favorite and are carrying momentum from Dallas after fending off SMU, 31-24. Sophomore quarterback McKenzie Milton is guiding the undefeated Knights and is even getting mentions in Heisman race. Milton currently ranks second in the nation for passing efficiency (189.1), completion percentage (.700) and passing yards per attempt (11.1).

Despite putting out its lowest scoring performance last the Knights remain the country’s top scoring offense, averaging 48.5 points per game and owns the longest current streak of 30 point-plus games.

As for UConn (3-6, 2-4 AAC) they dropped their last two contests to USF (37-20) and Missouri (52-12) and are hoping to play spoiler to No. 18 Knights to keep their bowl dreams alive. Now despite the defense giving up 38.3 points a game and over 500-yards offensive yards the Huskies have found success on the other side of the ball.

A pair of freshmen, Kevin Mensah (369 yards, 3 TDs) is coming off a career high 22-carry night and his second 100-yard rushing game while redshirt freshman Nate Hopkins adds another threat in the backfield with 301-yards and 7 touchdowns.

Senior QB Bryant Shirreffs has amassed over 2,000 passing yards and 14 touchdowns on the season and leads the struggling Huskies. A sore spot this year for the unit is the defense, allowing 38.3 points a game and over 550 offensive yards. This game could get out of hand on Saturday, as the Knights are looking to score as much as they can to impress the College Football Playoff committee as their position did not change after the SMU victory.

Three and out:

1. Scott Frost and his wife Ashley welcomed their first child, a son, early Wednesday morning.

2.  If the Knights win against UConn they will tie the program record for longest winning streak. In 2013, Blake Bortles led UCF to a 9-0 finish that was capped off with a Fiesta Bowl win.

3.  The all-time record between UCF and UConn stands at 2-2, this is the fifth consecutive meeting between the programs.