Temple fully aware of 0-6 Central Florida

IN 2013, Central Florida went 12-1 with a win over Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl. That season, Temple was 2-10. In mid-November, the Owls had the 15th-ranked Knights beat at Lincoln Financial Field. Then, UCF scored 10 points in the final minute and six seconds and won on a last-play field goal.

Now the Owls are 5-0, a win away from equalling the program record for best start and poised to crack the Top 25 for the first time in 36 years. And UCF is 0-6.

On Saturday night, they'll meet again in South Philly. The Owls are favored by three touchdowns. After this, they have a trip to East Carolina (3-3, 1-1 American Athletic) for a Thursday nighter followed by a visit from Notre Dame on Halloween.

"I think maybe if it was somebody else (we were playing), probably," said coach Matt Rhule, when asked if he was concerned about his guys getting ahead of themselves. "But they know who UCF is. We have a proud group. In their minds I think the only record our kids care about is the fact we're 0-2 against them."

Last October, it was 34-14 in Orlando. It was 17-0 in the first quarter.

The Owls were 4-1 a year ago. They lost five of their next six.

"We couldn't finish out the season," said senior linebacker Tyler Matakevitch, whose next tackle will be the 400th of his career. "It's something we really looked at in the offseason. What did we do wrong? It's something we said we'd never do again.

"I still think about that (2013 UCF) game. We were right there, even though our record wasn't good. It's just that something was missing. I know exactly what they're going through. You can't take anyone lightly, especially a team that's had success. In football, things don't always go the way you want them to. You have to be ready for anything.

"I know when I was younger I'd look at the schedule and think, 'Oh, we can beat this team or that team.' It's a long season. As crazy as it sounds, the only thing I'm thinking about is UCF. People might not believe it, but it's true. We've never beaten them. So that's frustrating."

In their third game, coming off wins over Penn State and AAC favorite Cincinnati, the Owls went to Massachusetts (1-4) and had to score five points in the closing 1:20 to survive. It's a process, one that senior defensive lineman Matt Ioannidis didn't "plan" on experiencing when he chose North Broad.

"It's such a great turnaround," he said. "I didn't think any of this was really going to happen. I thought I was going to play for (former coach Steve) Addazio for four years. I didn't expect to be in this situation, to have this much opportunity in one season. It's great. This is what you want, to become a really big-time college program. I couldn't be in a better spot as a senior.

"We started fast last year, were on top of the world. We couldn't sustain it. I think our team has always done a good job of responding to our mistsakes. We don't want to end up like last season."

Remember when getting bowl eligible was a big deal?

"If we were in it to get bowl eligible, it would be great," Ioannidis insisted. "We're not in it for (that). We're in it for a conference championship. At that point obviously we'd be bowl eligible.

"The success of a program sometimes (depends on) if you're a bowl team or not. Not any more. Not for us. Not at this point."

Toward that end they all count, even if some carry at least a little more significance. It's why you have to block out the growing noise from the outside.

"It's UCF week right now," Ioannidis went on. "All those other guys are down the road. We know they're coming. You can't listen to what people are saying. That doesn't help you win. It can only help you lose."

From 2009-11, the Owls won 26 times. None of these players were a part of that. The seniors lost 17 of their first 22 games. Since then they've gone 12-6. And maybe this is just the beginning. And with that also comes new challenges.

"It's good to know we're playing well enough that people are paying attention," Rhule cautioned. "From (the players') perspective, all this is new. So there's a negative part to that. Everyone around expected bad things to happen (before). We want to be a program that suffers from high expectations. (These guys) did that. It's not just a 5-0 stretch. I want them to understand they have built it to what it is. Now you have to deal with some pressure . . .

"We want to go to a bowl every year and contend for the conference championship. That doesn't mean being entitled. Right now, we're in line for both of those goals. (A bowl) is one of the steps along the way. If we lose one, we lose one. I want to have really high expectations. Hopefully eventually you rise to them."

By taking care of business, whether it's somebody you haven't beaten in 74 years or whatever part of the food chain happens to be next up.