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UCF coach Josh Heupel has high expectations for quarterback Brandon Wimbush when the Notre Dame transfer gets his first start for the 17th-ranked Knights when they host Florida A&M on Thursday night in Orlando, Fla.

“I expect him to play championship-caliber football,” Heupel said of the senior who was 9-3 as a starter for the Irish. “He has great command of what we are doing.”

Heupel waited until a week before the opener before announcing Wimbush as the starter, although Wimbush had been considered the likely successor to McKenzie Milton almost from the moment he arrived on campus. Milton is still rehabbing from a devastating late-season knee injury that included nerve damage.

That thought was further solidified when last year’s backup, Darriel Mack, suffered a broken ankle in “non-football related activity” in July, although Heupel kept an open competition going when the Knights began fall camp with redshirt freshman Quadry Jones and true freshman Dillon Gabriel also competing.

“I believed firmly in letting those guys go through the process,” Heupel said. “I think it’s important that they earn the job in front of their peers and their peers recognize that they earned the job.”

Heupel expressed confidence in all three candidates.

“The strength of the position can never be just one guy,” he said. “I think our football team, our fan base, can just look back to last year and understand that’s the case.”

Wimbush acknowledged that one thing weighed heavily in his favor over the newcomers.

“What’s evident and what’s clear is my experience,” he said. “I think that’s invaluable. That’s one of the invaluable assets I bring to this offense and to this team.”

Wimbush will have plenty of weapons at his disposal, including returner starters Gabriel Davis (53 catches, 815 yards) and Tre Nixon (40-562) at receiver, and Greg McCrae (1,182 yards rushing) and Adrian Killins (second-team All-American Athletic Conference) at running back.

UCF’s defense returns first-team All-AAC selection Nate Evans at linebacker among four other starters and could face a challenge from a veteran FAMU offense led by quarterback Ryan Stanley, who passed for 229 yards per game last year. Wide receiver Xavier Smith had 52 catches for 727 yards as a freshman.

“They’ve got some experience on the offensive side of the ball,” Heupel said of the Rattlers. “They’ve got some dynamic playmakers and a veteran quarterback. Defensively, they’re multiple in some of their fronts.”

The FCS Rattlers are coming of a 6-5 season that ended with a three-game losing streak. Second-year coach Willie Simmons said the mantra this season is “fight to the finish.”

“We have a lot of really good position battles going on across the board and that’s the good thing about camp,” Simmons said last week. “The mark of building a really good program is by building that depth, when you have guys compete this late into training camp.”

The Rattlers played one FBS opponent last season, losing 59-7 at Troy.

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)