The Florida Atlantic Owls opened the season on the road to an eye-opening loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Their first home game of the season the UCF Knights. A Knights team ranked 18th and winners of 23 consecutive regular-season games furthermore 26 of it’s last 27 overall
The Owls are the only team to open the current season versus two ranked opponents.
The talent gap showed for the second week in a row.
The Knights were led by freshman quarterback Dillon Gabriel who went 7 for 19 but threw touchdown passes of 57 and 74 yards, and No. 18 UCF extended its regular-season winning streak to 24 games by dominating the Owls Florida 48-14 Saturday night.
“That’s an embarrassing performance by us,” Lane Kiffin said. “It was a big game for a lot of people here, so I apologize to our fans. I apologize to the people who got us here, from the president down.”
The Owls have never beaten a Top 25 team in 15 tries.
Kiffin began his Owls coaching career with an 11-3 record and first Conference USA title in 2017. Last season was a dramatic surprise with a 5-7 record. 0-2 to the start of this season is a mountain to climb.
The Owls were outgained offensively 574 to 314. Kiffin’s offensive scheme will need to come alive soon with the players on his roster.
Kiffin hoped former Alabama running back BJ Emmons would anchor a running back rotation this fall, but Emmons broke an ankle on his first carry against Ohio St. and is expected to miss the season. The Owls could have used Emmons.
The beat goes on.
The Knights host Stanford (1-1), which lost at Southern Cal 45-20 on Saturday.
The Owls take their talents to Ball State (1-1) on Saturday.
Photo/RomanGaray/WORLDWIDEWEST
