Frost: Milton has the 'it factor'

In a perfect scenario, the Hawaii native would redshirt while learning the ropes and adding some bulk to his 5-foot-11, 170-pound frame, observing from the sidelines as the senior quarterbacks, Holman and Nick Patti, lead the offense.

But sometimes things change.

Scott Frost's policy is to not talk about injuries, so it's unclear if Holman, who appeared to have pulled a hamstring during a quarterback scramble at Michigan, will be ready to play this weekend. That leaves backup Nick Patti as the presumed starter.

However, both quarterbacks have been underwhelming in the first two games. Patti, who played the entire second half at Michigan, completed just 3-of-11 passes for 37 yards. Holman struggled in the first half against South Carolina State - Frost believed he was too "amped up" - though he did rebound with a better second half. He was then 3-of-11 for 19 yards at Michigan prior to the injury. Overall, Holman has completed 17-of-39 passes for 212 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

While both quarterbacks have worked diligently to integrate into Frost's fast-tempo spread offense, Milton was the player specifically recruited to excel in it.

If it was up to Frost, Milton would have been offered by Oregon following a camp performance in which he beat out 61 other quarterbacks to earn MVP honors, but his smaller stature gave pause to head coach Mark Helfrich.

So it hardly came as a surprise that when Frost landed the UCF head coaching job, the first call he made to a quarterback was to Milton, who at the time was committed to Hawaii. Milton decided to take a visit in January and ultimately chose to sign with the Knights.

Frost perked up when asked this week about Milton's progress.

"McKenzie has got it," Frost said. "The 'it factor,' whatever it is. He's had a great camp. Does everything the right way. We want to bring him on trips to make sure he's getting the experience and understands what's going to be asked of him somewhere out in the future. We'll evaluate Justin as the week goes on and we'll evaluate the rest of the guys that could be ready to play on Saturday. As the week goes along we'll make a decision. But McKenzie has got a bright future."

During the ESPN3 broadcast of UCF's season opener against South Carolina State, the announcers relayed a conversation they had with Frost and quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco, who spoke of Milton being UCF's future at quarterback and even dropped a playing-style comparison to former Texas A&M star Johnny Manziel.

During Wednesday's radio show, Frost indicated Holman's injury wasn't quite as serious as they initially believed, but still was vague about what they might do on Saturday.

"We'll make the decision every week that's best for our football team," Frost said. "We have some great people on our team, good individuals, good character kids. I want the best for all of them. We'll make every decision on who gives us the best chance to win."

Milton, when interviewed during UCF's Media Day on Aug. 17, believed he was doing a good job of picking up the offense.

"I feel like a lot of the stuff that we do is similar to what I've been doing in high school," Milton said. "It's definitely more complex because it is college football. Coach Frost is a really smart guy and so is Coach Verduzco. They've done a great job of teaching me what I need to learn. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of what's going on right now. I'm probably going to learn a lot more as we go along."

To excel as a quarterback in this offense, Frost has continually said you need to be a "fast blinker," or in other words make lightning-quick, pre-snap decisions. Milton said a short memory is also helpful.

"If you have a big play, you're on to the next play in six seconds," Milton said. "Bad play, next play is six seconds. You have to have a short memory. Coach Verduzco calls it whistle-to-whistle memory. Once the whistle blows, the play is dead and you've got to focus on the next play. You can't dwell on good plays or dwell on mistakes, just keep going."

Milton said at the time of his commitment he hoped to play early, but would be fine with any decision made by the coaching staff, whether that's playing as a freshman or redshirting.

"You want to go in and compete every day with whatever your competition is," Milton said during the preseason. "We've got five other quarterbacks on the roster. Obviously Justin and Nick are the two guys right now. My job as a freshman is to come in and compete my butt off, see what I can do. If the coaches decide to play me my freshman year, that's great. If not, I'll just sit back and learn and still compete every day in practice. We'll see what happens."