ORLANDO — The Maryland football team didn’t know which Central Florida quarterback to prepare for entering Saturday night’s contest.
Knights signal caller Justin Holman suffered an injury against Michigan a week before, and Nick Patti made a relief appearance. The two combined for finish 6-for-22 for 56 yards, and neither saw the field against the Terps.
Instead, quarterback McKenzie Milton made the first start of his true freshman season. When coach DJ Durkin’s squad learned the news, the coaches and players spent time Saturday watching Milton’s high school highlight videos.
Milton finished the game 21-of-36 for 260 yards and two touchdowns, along with 19 carries for a gain of 62 yards and a score on the ground. Maryland’s defense, though, forced the rookie into four turnovers, one of which ended the Knights’ second overtime possession, as the Terps escaped Bright House Networks Stadium with a 30-24 double-overtime victory.
“Overall, our defense played really well,” Durkin said. “But there was just some stuff pass rush-wise and containing the quarterback we got to get cleaned up.”
The Terps studied Milton’s performance at Mililani High School as a Kapolei, Hawaii, native, and linebacker Shane Cockerille said Milton operated in a read-option scheme. The redshirt junior, who finished with a tied for a game-high and career-best 14 tackles, anticipated Milton would also be a threat in the run game.
While Milton recorded four fumbles (and lost two) and threw one interception in the first half, he settled into Knights first-year coach Scott Frost’s up-tempo offense.
He tossed a four-yard touchdown late in the first frame to give UCF a 7-0 advantage. Then Milton gashed the defense with 24 rushing yards and 36 passing yards before Terps’ defensive lineman Cavon Walker ended the Knights’ final drive of the half with a sack.
As the Terps discussed halftime adjustments — they touted a 10-7 lead despite UCF recording 46 more yards on eight more plays — the defenders focused on controlling their run gaps and protecting the edge.
If Milton’s first receiving option wasn’t open, Cockerille said after the game, the freshman would tuck the ball and look to run.
“A big thing for us was staying in our rush lanes,” Cockerille said. “Later in the game, I feel like we did a lot better…with containing the quarterback.”
The unit, however, failed to protect against Milton’s dodge on 3rd-and-13 from his own 22-yard line midway through the third quarter when he completed a 71-yard connection with tight end Jordan Akins.
Two plays later, the freshman fumbled the ball in the backfield but looped around the left side of the line to power into the end zone to put the Knights up, 14-10.
“He created some stuff,” Durkin said. “He definitely hurt us scrambling out of the pocket. I mean, all those third downs and plays and just broken down plays and throwing the ball up in the air or him scrambling, that hurt us. We got to get that solved on defense.”
Milton again shifted around in the backfield during the first overtime. After quarterback Perry Hills notched a rushing score for the Terps on their possession, UCF, facing a 3rd-and-16 from Maryland’s 31-yard line, needed a touchdown for the chance to extend the game.
That’s when Milton took the snap, juked out of the pocket and found wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith streaking down the right sideline for a 31-yard score.
Trainers tended to cornerback Will Likely, who battled in coverage against Smith, after the play, but he returned to the field in double overtime. That’s when Milton fumbled the ball to flip possession, giving the Terps and quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome the opportunity to seal their third win.
Likely didn’t see Milton’s miscue, but once he finished celebrating the team’s third win in as many tries under Durkin, the senior sought out the rookie to commend his effort in his college debut.
“I told him after the game he’s a pretty good player,” Likely said. “As long as he keep it up, he’s going to be a guy that everybody’s talking about in the future.”
