COMMENTARY: Hype builds in “Battle of the Turnpike” matchup between FIU, UCF

Photo By: Kristi Camara

Photo By: Kristi Camara

By: Brandon Wise / Staff Writer

You could not have asked for a better script. Central Florida, coming off of a 30-3 bashing of Boston College last week, and FIU, who just defeated its first school ever from a BCS automatic qualifying conference,  are on a collision course for Saturday night when UCF travels the 240 miles south for the match-up.

The “Battle of the Turnpike,” as the UCF players have dubbed it, is shaping up to break the attendance record for an FIU football game set at the Rutgers game last season at 19,872. The only problem is how friendly this crowd will be, as numerous people have said that UCF will bring a lot of fans down to “The Cage.”

When the fans of another school are willing to buy season tickets from FIU to see one game, it goes a long way in showing the fandom that UCF has created around their program in the last 20 years.It will be an embarrassment to this school if the Knights out number the Golden Panthers in the stands. However, the scoreboard has nothing to do with how both schools attend to the game.

The Golden Panthers will have to play nearly perfect football this weekend if they hope to come out on top.The hype of this game has been building since the schedule was released and fueled even more this past month, with fans on both sides going at it on social media websites.

Now, the players have even begun to give each other some bulletin board material.Jeff Godfrey, Quarterback for UCF and Miami native, has had a lot to say about coming back home to Miami and specifically about FIU when he talked to the Orlando Sentinel.

“They had a pretty good game over Louisville,” Godfrey said of FIU’s game over Louisville. “They played great. T.Y. Hilton, he had a great game. Broke their school record. He’s just a phenomenal player. But I think our defense will go out there and shut them out.”

This is the not the first time that opponents have doubted T.Y. and the rest of the offense this season. It seems like every time someone says something about Hilton, the senior takes it personally and makes sure that they remember exactly why they should have kept their mouth shut. Hilton will likely see double coverage again this week, but he will find the key of those handcuffs a couple of times yet again.

Last season, UCF faced off against one of the best receivers in the nation, A.J. Green. The Knights held Green, who is now in the NFL, to eight catches for 77 yards in a dog fight that UCF won 10-6.

Now, these are two different types of receivers with different characteristics.

Green was a possession receiver who wanted to beat the defensive backs with his height and jumping ability. Hilton wants to get down field as quick as possible and beat the defense by getting behind it. While Green had some success against it last year, I think that Hilton will be able to get through and post at least 100 yards and a touchdown.

The rest of the offense will have to pick up the slack after not showing up against Louisville. The rushing attack that dominated against lowly North Texas, 208 total as a team, ran into a roadblock at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, going for only 45 yards on 26 attempts.

For the offense to be successful, the running game has to be working better. The offensive line will have to handle a defense that is ranked in the top 10 in nearly every statistical category in the nation. However, that can only mean so much since their first game was against an FCS opponent, Charleston Southern.

But, the way that UCF handled Boston College’s offense is worrisome.

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