On Friday, UCF pulled off the biggest win in school history by upsetting #8 Louisville 38-35. The win was the first win over a top 10 school in UCF football history. The win puts UCF in prime position to go to the first BCS bowl in school history. If the Knights are able to win out, they’ll get an automatic bid for winning the American Athletic Conference.
The win for UCF came after big performances from running backs Storm Johnson and William Stanback. The two combined for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns on 27 attempts. Both were certainly crucial in allowing UCF to come back from a 28-7 deficit in the 3rd quarter. Storm Johnson was named the player of the week for the American Athletic Conference, earning more national recognition for the university. The win also vaulted UCF into the top 25 teams in the nation. This is a very good thing for the program: the more national recognition the school receives, especially on a primetime network, the stronger the case the school can make for top high school recruits to come play for them in the future. Theoretically, UCF’s success now should snowball into more and more success in future years with stronger recruiting classes coming to the school. If the Knights were to make a BCS bowl–whether it be the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona, or the Orange Bowl in Miami–they’d get even more press, especially if they were somehow manage to obtain a victory over what is sure to be a strong program in one of those games. One thing is for sure: UCF’s one upset win over Louisville has exciting implications for the future success of the program.