Hurricane Florence, a scary Category 4 storm, is headed to the Carolinas' coastline, and the anticipation is already impacting this weekend's college football schedule. Some schools have moved up start times. Others have canceled games completely, including No. 16 UCF, which was scheduled to play at North Carolina on Saturday.
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That means the Knights' winning streak, the longest active in the Football Bowl Subdivision, is safe for yet another week, but that doesn't mean they don't have challengers chomping at the bit to play the team some consider last season's national champions.
Due to Hurricane Florence, our game at UNC this weekend has been canceled.
UNC and UCF will continue to discuss the feasibility of playing the game at a later date this season. #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/8DfCNUw8Ne
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) September 11, 2018
The first opponent? None other than FCS foe Maine, which has an open date this weekend.
Hey UCF👋
We're sorry to hear that your game is cancelled this weekend. Still waiting to hear about the makeup date from our 2017 cancellation...
We have an open date this Saturday at Alfond Stadium.
Whad'ya say, National Champs? https://t.co/OW0JmbYtGO
— Maine Football (@BlackBearsFB) September 11, 2018
In case you need a refresher, UCF canceled its late September game with the Maine Black Bears last season so the Knights could play Memphis instead after the AAC game was canceled the previous week due to Hurricane Irma.
UCF has already played a FCS opponent in South Carolina State. A game with Maine would not be able to count toward the Knights' bowl eligibility. It doesn't really make the road trip worth it, but the digs about making up last season's game and the national champs is poetic.
Of course, UCF fired back at the Black Bears' challenge.
https://twitter.com/UCF_Football/status/1039675445627822081
So far this season, UCF has dismantled UConn and SC State by a combined score of 94-17. The Black Bears have also started the season 2-0, but just squeaked by Western Kentucky last weekend.
This is a bold move by Maine. It would certainly have its hands full with the Knights, who have won 15-straight contests and appear to have a good thing going under new head coach Josh Heupel. It's just unfortunate this game, or even the highly anticipated game against the Tar Heels, won't happen this season.
