This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

With all the focus this week on how backup quarterback Christian Stewart will play in tonight's football game against Central Florida (5:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN) as he goes about the impossible task of replacing all-everything QB Taysom Hill, folks haven't talked about the weather much in Orlando. It's hot, sticky and humid today, and it is only 10:30 a.m. here in the Southeast. Temperatures are expected to reach 90 degrees, with 75-80 percent humidity. At kickoff, temps should be in the mid-80s. That's another factor the Cougars (4-1) will have to deal with, along with a quarterback making his first career start and UCF's defense — the best one BYU will have faced this season. Here's my advance of the game, which is mostly about Stewart's background, and how he came to be BYU's starting quarterback after dreaming of this since he was a little kid attending games in LaVell Edwards Stadium with his father. I caught parts of an Orlando sports talk radio show last night after I landed in Orlando, and the hosts were talking about what a shame it is that these two teams don't have just one loss between them, and that both aren't nationally ranked. Sounds like that's what both fan bases were expecting when they saw this game on the calendar back when the season began. Not that it means anything, but I didn't see a lot of BYU fans on my direct flight from SLC to Orlando on Wednesday, like I normally do. It will be interesting to see what kind of crowd shows up at Bright House Networks Stadium tonight. Capacity is 45,323 and the Knights drew 44,510 in their only other home game to date, a 41-7 win over Bethune-Cookman. Of course, the Cougars are dealing with a short turnaround, having last played on Friday. The Knights last played on Thursday, a 17-12 win at Houston. Coach Bronco Mendenhall said he is "invigorated" by the challenge. "Man, it is a killer opportunity," Mendenhall said. "I am kind of invigorated by it, actually. I like the challenge. Maybe the last time would be TCU had a bye week and we had a Thursday night game, and we were coming off a Saturday game. We went down to Fort Worth to play with John Beck. It wasn't a quarterback change, but a quick turnaround. That was the challenge that laid ahead. That was similar. But this is a different team and a different set of circumstances. Man, it will be an amazing challenge and also a good opportunity." While the focus will be on Stewart, and he will have to play well for BYU to get the win, a lot depends on whether the Cougars' defense can rebound from that awful showing against Utah State. UCF quarterbacks haven't been good, but a lot of QBs can shine if they get all day to throw, like USU's Darell Garretson did last week. "I would love to see more pressure on the quarterback. I would love to see him throwing it without a bunch of time," Mendenhall said. "This particular game was one where Utah State on four different occasions, most of them double moves, out and up, slant and goes, post-corners, four of them were max [protections]. Two of them were one-man routes, and the other two were three-man routes. And so they had a nice plan in place. The rest of the balls the past three weeks I would say have been thrown on time, but I am still not happy with the number of hits we are getting on the quarterback, even if it is not sacks." Mendenhall wasn't sure when I asked him if this UCF defense that is ranked No. 30 in the country will be the best defense the Cougars will have faced. "Hard to say. I like their personnel. I like their front four. I like both interiors. We scheduled it for a reason," he said. "Last time they came here — I think four or five years ago — and we are anxious to go play them on their home turf and really with this particular team, under these circumstances, I am excited for this team to kinda have to rely more on each other, and have it be maybe more unified in terms of contribution for us to have success."