Prior to UCF’s game against nationally ranked Cincinnati in prime time on ABC on Saturday, junior quarterback McKenzie Milton proclaimed the Knights better than undefeated Notre Dame.
“You look at the (Pitt) film against us and Notre Dame,” Milton told Bleacher Report. “You can’t tell me Notre Dame is a better team than us. … I see a difference. We’re better.”
The 2016 Mililani alumnus then went out and backed up his talk, throwing for 268 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for another score in a 38-13 victory.
His 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter gave UCF a 7-6 lead and started a run of 35 straight points scored by the Knights, who jumped to No. 8 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll and to No. 9 in the College Football Playoff rankings that were released Tuesday.
UCF extended its winning streak to 23 games and has scored at least 30 points in every one of those victories.
Milton is already third all-time in program history with 625 pass completions and he’s thrown 71 touchdown passes and rushed for 20 TDs.
It was the fifth time this season he threw at least three touchdown passes in the same game.
Gilman wins Walter Camp weekly award
Notre Dame safety Alohi Gilman was named the FBS national defensive player of the week by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on Sunday.
The 2015 Kahuku alumnus had eight tackles and intercepted two passes to help the Fighting Irish hold Syracuse to a field goal in a 36-3 win on Saturday.
Notre Dame is ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 and would likely secure a berth in the College Football Playoff with a win over Southern California on Saturday.
Gilman, a 5-foot-11, 202-pound redshirt junior, is tied for second on the Irish with 66 total tackles, with three tackles for loss and three pass breakups.
AROUND THE NATION
MEN’S BASKETBALL
>> Hugh Hogland, ‘Iolani ’17: The Portland freshman center averaged 7.0 points and 4.5 rebounds off the bench in wins over Cal State Northridge on Saturday and Lewis & Clark on Monday.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
>> Chanelle Molina, Konawaena ’16: The Washington State junior starting guard poured in 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting with three steals, two rebounds and two assists in an 87-84 double-overtime win over Nebraska on Friday.
>> Jasmine Moody, Radford ’15: The Brigham Young senior starting forward went 3-for-3 from the field in 26 minutes and tallied seven points and a rebound in an 80-65 win over Eastern Washington on Saturday.
>> Rylie Wada, Hawaii Baptist ’15: The Cal Lutheran senior starting guard was 3-for-4 from the field and finished with six points, a rebound and a steal in 21 minutes of a 78-75 win over UC Santa Cruz on Saturday.
>> Alexis Pana, Hilo ’16: The Central Washington junior starting point guard finished with 15 points, eight assists, two steals, two rebounds and a block in a 74-67 win over St. Cloud State on Friday.
>> Kizzah Maltezo, Honokaa ’16: The Concordia (Ore.) starting guard had 13 points, two steals, a rebound and an assist in a 68-62 win over Cal State San Bernardino on Friday.
>> Abby Aplaca, Punahou ’17: The Concordia (Ore.) guard was a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line and had 10 points in 14 minutes off the bench in Friday’s win.
>> Rose Shimaoka, Kaiser ’16: The Cornell (Iowa) College starting guard had seven points, four rebounds and an assist in 21 minutes of a 71-45 loss to Mount Vernon on Friday.
>> Maegen Martin, Maryknoll ’15: The Whitman (Wash.) senior starting forward shot 4-for-8 from the field and scored nine points with four rebounds an an assist in an 89-87 loss to Montana Tech on Saturday.
>> Camy Aguinaldo, ‘Iolani ’17: The Whitworth (Wash.) sophomore guard opened the season with 15 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals in a 68-52 loss to Montana Tech on Friday and eight points, six assists and four rebounds in a win over Texas-Tyler on Saturday.
>> Va’e Malufau, Punahou ’16: The Utah Valley sophomore center had five points, five rebounds and an assist in 14 minutes off the bench in a 90-61 win over Ottawa (Ariz.) on Saturday.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
>> Keili Dorn, West Hawaii Explorations Academy ’15: The Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) senior earned All-America honors after placing 16th at Friday’s NAIA Championships with a 5K time of 17:53. It was Dorn’s fourth national meet. Embry-Riddle finished seventh in the team standings.
FOOTBALL
>> Tua Tagovailoa, Saint Louis ’17: The Alabama sophomore quarterback finished 18-for-22 for 340 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 37 yards and a TD in a 50-17 win over The Citadel.
>> Jordan Ta‘amu, Pearl City ’15: The Ole Miss senior quarterback was 32-for-52 for 457 yards and two touchdowns with two picks in a 36-29 overtime loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday. Ta’amu passed Eli Manning for the second-most passing yards in a season in school history with 3,831 and his 467 total yards of offense ranks as the sixth-most in a single game in school history.
>> Salanoa Alo-Wily, Kahuku ’15: The UNLV senior defensive tackle finished with six tackles and 11⁄2 tackles for loss and was in on a sack for the Rebels in a 35-28 loss to Hawaii on Saturday.
>> Kalani Vakameilalo, Kapolei ’14: The Oregon State senior defensive lineman had four tackles with 21⁄2 tackles for loss in a 42-23 loss to Washington on Saturday.
>> Kekaula Kaniho, Kahuku ’17: The Boise State safety had two tackles and intercepted his second pass of the season in a 45-14 win over New Mexico on Friday.
>> Andrew Aleki, Kamehameha ’17: The San Diego State sophomore linebacker assisted on six tackles in a 23-14 loss to Fresno State on Saturday night.
>> Vavae Malepeai, Mililani ’16: The Southern California sophomore running back rushed 15 times for a team-high 77 yards and caught three passes for 26 yards in a 34-27 loss to UCLA on Saturday.
>> Jordan Iosefa, Saint Louis ’16: The USC junior linebacker made six tackles and recorded a sack against the Bruins.
>> Jaylen Gonzales, Waianae ’17: The Whitworth (Wash.) sophomore linebacker made six tackles and recorded 11⁄2 sacks to lead the Pirates to their first NCAA Division III playoff victory in 12 years, a 48-6 drubbing of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday. Whitworth will play St. John’s (Minn.) in the second round on Saturday.
>> P-Jay Solomon, Pearl City ’15: The Whitworth senior defensive tackle recorded a sack for a 6-yard loss against the Stags.
>> Ethan Takeyama, Punahou ’18: The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps freshman receiver caught four passes for 55 yards against the Pirates.
MEN’S WATER POLO
>> Oliver Lewis, Punahou ’14: The Stanford senior goalkeeper made two big stops in the fourth quarter and finished with nine saves overall in a 12-10 win over California on Sunday to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title. The Cardinal earned the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championships on Dec. 1-2.
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Stats compiled by Billy Hull, Star-Advertiser. To submit an athlete for publication, email bhull@staradvertiser.com.
