In its never-ending pursuit for national credibility, UCF and its electric offense made a major statement at home against Stanford last Saturday.
The Knights steamrolled the Cardinal, a consistent Pac-12 power, by scoring on six of their first seven possessions and easing to a 45-27 win in Orlando — UCF’s third win over a Power 5 foe in just over two seasons.
The No. 15-ranked Knights will get another Power 5 test as they travel to play the Pitt Panthers at Heinz Field on Saturday.
New starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel and the offense have made it easy for coach Josh Heupel, an offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, Utah State and Missouri before taking over in 2018 after coach Scott Frost left for Nebraska.
The Knights (3-0) have overwhelmed their opposition by a 155-41 margin and scored 30 points or more in 29 straight games — the longest streak in the college football’s top division since 1936.
Gabriel, a true freshman, passed for 347 yards and four touchdowns last week as UCF led 38-7 at halftime. He is from Hawaii’s Mililani High School, which also produced UCF senior quarterback McKenzie Milton, who is sitting out this season because of injury.
Last season, UCF beat visiting Pitt 45-14 behind a six-touchdown output by Milton (four passing, two rushing) as the home side led 31-7 at the break.
Through three games, Gabriel ranks fourth nationally in passing efficiency rating (206.6), trailing Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, LSU’s Joe Burrow and fellow Hawaiian Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama.
“I think you can see the confidence in him from our offensive players and from our entire program, but he’s obviously got a ton of confidence as well,” Heupel said of Gabriel, who was named the Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week.
Pitt (1-2) has started off slowly in 2019, but the Panthers showed promise with an improved passing attack in last week’s 17-10 loss at Penn State.
The Panthers ranked among the worst passing offenses last season, averaging just 141.8 yards per game to slot them 120th out of 130 FBS schools.
However, junior quarterback Kenny Pickett and new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple have helped change those numbers.
Through three contests, Pitt’s improved aerial assault has doubled 2018’s numbers and then some. The Panthers are tied for 28th nationally in passing with high-powered Texas A&M, averaging 292.7 yards per game.
Pickett has completed 82 of 129 attempts for 878 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Wide receivers Maurice Ffrench (24 receptions, 235 yards, TD) and Taysir Mack (21-215), and running back A.J. Davis (10-166), have accounted for 55 of Pickett’s 82 completions.
Much of the postgame chatter on Saturday surrounded Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi’s decision-making late in the 100th meeting against Penn State.
Trailing by a touchdown with less than five minutes remaining and the ball at the Penn State 1, Narduzzi opted to attempt a 19-yard field, but Alex Kessman’s kicked clanked off the left upright and was no good.
However, Narduzzi defended his decision at the 1 despite going for it on fourth-and-1 at the Pitt 43 three minutes earlier.
“You need two scores to win the football game, unless you guys are playing for overtime. We’re trying to win the football game,” Narduzzi said.
