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Posted on 11/11/2018 at 14:53:59 by WebMaster
From:
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/open-mike/os-sp-ucf-navy-mike-bianchi-1111-story.html
(Stephen M. Dowell / Orlando Sentinel)
Let us take a much-needed break today from all of the controversy and consternation involving UCF’s standing in the polls and playoff rankings and enjoy college football for what it was always supposed to be about in the first place.
Let us close our eyes, take a deep breath and harken back to those bygone days when every game was like UCF’s 35-24 homecoming victory over Navy. When college football was about getting out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, tailgating with old college friends, cheering for your team and respecting your opponent.
UCF fans actually applauded Navy when the Midshipmen took the field Saturday; everybody stood at attention for the Star-Spangled Banner on this Veterans Day weekend and watched with reverence as three Navy helicopters flew over the stadium at the end of the national anthem.
This country would be a lot better off if Democrats and Republicans treated each other with the same respect as UCF fans, players and coaches treated Navy fans, players and coaches on Saturday afternoon.
Even though Navy is having a down year and has only won two games, the Midshipmen did themselves proud on Saturday. They ran their triple option to near-perfection and were competitive with one of the top teams in the nation. And they did it with a special breed of student-athletes who truly are in college to get an education and contribute to the greater good.
You wonder if Navy players roll their eyes at the media-created narrative about how NCAA football and basketball players are being exploited and deserve more compensation than just a full-ride college scholarship. Let us not forget what these Navy players are willing to sacrifice just so they can get their degree. After Navy players graduate from the academy, they are then committed to five years of military service during which they will defend our shores so other college athletes can exercise their unalienable right to make millions by jumping to the NBA or NFL.
“We have a great respect for Navy, what those kids are doing who go there and for what they do for civilians every single day,” UCF coach Josh Heupel said.
Unlike other UCF opponents this season, Navy players didn’t once flop on the field and feign an injury in an attempt to slow down Heupel’s dizzying fast-break no-huddle offense. There were no cheap shots or trash talk either.
Navy and UCF players gather to sing the Navy alma mater following the Knights' win over the Midshipmen Saturday at Spectrum Stadium.
In fact, UCF wide receiver Dredrick Snelson admitted he tried to engage one of the Navy cornerbacks in some good-natured smack talk and was met with utter and complete stone-faced silence.
“I tried to get him out of his game,” Snelson said with a smile splashed across his face. “I was talking to him and telling him, ‘You can’t cover me one-on-one.’ He didn’t say a word to me. Didn’t talk to me once. It threw me off a little bit. He was poised and composed. I asked him, ‘You aren’t going to talk to me?’ He just turned his head walked back to the huddle.”
It’s sort of the same focused mentality UCF players and coaches have when we in the media try to engage them in talk about the College Football Playoff. The weekly discussion and debate about which four teams deserve to play for the national championship have enveloped the sport, but the Knights refuse to budge from Heupel’s weekly “just go 1-0” mantra.
“I don’t think about the playoffs and I don’t want to talk about the playoff,” Snelson said.
Give UCF players and coaches credit for not taking part in the season-long ranting and raving by fans and those of us in the media who believe the Knights are being slighted by the CFP selection committee. It seems many of us have spent so much time concerning ourselves with what UCF needs to do to make the playoff semifinals that we aren’t fully appreciating another spectacular season.
Last week, all the talk was that the Knights defense gave up nearly 700 yards and UCF only beat Temple by 12. This week, the critics will no doubt discuss how a two-win Navy team ran for 374 yards on UCF’s defense and the Knights only won by 11.
Instead of complaining about what UCF isn’t doing, shouldn’t we be marveling at what UCF is doing — winning at a euphoric, historic rate? The Knights have now won 22 consecutive games and are four victories away from back-to-back perfect seasons. Do you realize the last team to do that was Tom Osborne’s legendary Nebraska Cornhuskers of 1994-95?
Yes, it would be amazing if UCF somehow, someway got into the playoff semifinals, but don’t let the controversy and consternation suck the joy out of another magical season.
Close your eyes on this beautiful Saturday afternoon, take a deep breath and start humming the Navy fight song.
Anchors Aweigh, my boys,
Anchors Aweigh.
“That team is a class act,” UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton said of the Midshipmen. “They’re a bunch of great young men who are going to do great things for our country. It’s always a special feeling playing them.”
McKenzie’s words are like music to my ears.
Amid the cackling, clamoring cacophony about the playoff, so seldom do we hear the true song of college football anymore.
Anchors Aweigh, my boys,
Anchors Aweigh.
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