Central Florida sophomore quarterback McKenzie Milton was named the American Athletic Conference offensive player of the week on Monday.
Milton, a 2016 Mililani alumnus, was pulled before the end of the third quarter after throwing for 360 yards and four touchdowns in a 61-17 win over Florida International last Thursday.
Milton completed 16 of his 21 throws with one interception and posted a quarterback rating of 273.5, which ranks third in the nation through the first two weeks.
He’s the first Golden Knight to win the award on offense since 2014.
“There is a lot of people questioning things with (Milton) and people are always critical of coaches and quarterbacks,” UCF coach Scott Frost told reporters after the game. “I admire the kid for getting through what he got through last year. What you saw on the field today is what we’ve been seeing at practice for almost two years, and it carried over to the field today.”
Milton, who completed his first eight passes in the game, threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to end UCF’s first drive of the second half and didn’t return to the game.
UCF finished with 587 total yards and rolled up 31 first downs.
“I did have a lot of time (in the pocket),” Milton told reporters after the game. “Our O-line did an awesome job today and they have been doing a great job since spring ball. The strides they have made from last year to this year is day and night and I can’t appreciate them enough. I love those guys to death.”
UCF hosts Memphis on Friday and then Georgia Tech a week from Saturday before playing its first road game on Sept. 23 at Maryland.
OSU’s Hungalu scores second career TD
Oregon State senior linebacker Manase Hungalu scored a touchdown for the second straight season when he returned an interception 21 yards to the end zone in a 35-32 win over Portland State on Saturday.
Hungalu, who returned a fumble for a TD against UCLA last season, led the Beavers with nine tackles, including two tackles for loss, despite nursing a hip injury and missing time in the second half.
“I just got a bruise on my hip that kind of limited me from running,” the 2013 Kealakehe alumnus told reporters after the game.
It didn’t hamper him on the pick-6, which gave OSU a 28-20 lead with 5:03 left in the third quarter.
“I was on the line of scrimmage and they came out of double (and) a lot of their plays was either the streak by the one or a 5-yard out by the two or the slants and I knew either one of those was coming,” Hungalu said. “I tried to play the slant but play it off like I wasn’t there. I didn’t see (the quarterback) throw it, but I seen the ball come my way and I just caught it and happy to make a play.”
Some other notes from around college football:
>> Utah junior offensive lineman Jordan Agasiva (Mililani ’15) started at tackle in his first game with the Utes since transferring from junior college, and defensive end Bradlee Anae (Kahuku ’16) and linebacker Kavika Luafatasaga (Farrington ’13) also started for the Utes in a 37-16 win over North Dakota last Thursday. Luafatasaga had three solo tackles and Anae made one tackle for a loss.
>> Arizona State defensive back Joey Bryant (Saint Louis ’09) started his first game with the Sun Devils and notched his first career interception in a 37-31 win over New Mexico State on Saturday.
>> Washington State defensive end Hercules Mata’afa (Lahainaluna ’14) had five tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in a 31-0 shutout of Montana State on Saturday.
>> Notre Dame freshman defensive lineman Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa (Kapolei ’17) had three tackles with one for a loss in his first collegiate game — a 49-16 win over Temple on Saturday.
>> Cal sophomore Kanawai Noa (Punahou ’15) earned his second career start and had two receptions for 28 yards in a 35-30 win over North Carolina on Saturday.
>> Southern Cal linebacker Jordan Iosefa (Saint Louis ’16) had four tackles in his first career start at linebacker and running back Vavae Malepeai (Mililani ’16) carried the ball twice for 14 yards in his first game action with the Trojans during a 49-31 win over Western Michigan on Saturday.
