It was bad for the Knights. But, mercifully, the slog to 0-and-12 reached its end as USF crushed UCF in a mostly empty stadium on Thanksgiving night.
When we previewed the game, we asked whether who would have more yards: USF's Marlon Mack (the overwhelming favorite), USF's Quinton Flowers
(who got a substantial number of votes) or the entire UCF offense
(sigh). It turns out that the smart money was on Quinton Flowers, who
ended with 264 total yards (and that was with Steven Bench coming in
during garbage time). UCF mustered a mere 203.
As was the case last week against ECU,
UCF opened with a decent drive that proved to be about the only
functional drive of the The Bulls closed out their season with a huge
win over rival UCF, capping their second half surge. Surprising no one,
the Knights staggered to the end of their winless season. night. QB
Justin Holman looked strong initially, including connecting with
redshirt freshman Tre'quan Smith on a beautiful pass. And on fourth and
seven, Smith had a beautiful diving catch to extend drive deep into USF
territory. But the Knights couldn't score a touchdown, ultimately
settling for the field goal by Matthew Wright.
It was all USF from there.
The Bulls responded with a
drive in which they easily carved up the Knights, especially with USF QB
Quinton Flowers making excellent choices on the zone read. The drive
appeared to be blunted with an illegal touching penalty by USF, Flowers
getting stuffed, and an incomplete pass. But of course this was the UCF defense. On fourth and eight, Flowers threw a twenty-eight yard pass and followed that with a touchdown pass to Barr.
The Knights promptly went three
and out, though the defense followed by forcing USF to punt (helped
quite a bit by USF penalties). UCF bookended that decent stand with
another three and out, however, and the Bulls returned to form on the
next drive, which features some great runs out of the diamond formation.
Flowers would add his second touchdown pass of the night to put the
Bulls up 14-3.
After a brief flirtation with
moving the ball, the UCF offense again flopped badly. On third down
Holman threw a pick over the middle. USF again tore through the
uninspired Knights defense and Quinton Flowers added a touchdown on the
ground.
On the next drive, Smith had -
again - a highlight reel catch in which he went up for the ball, got
hit, flipped head over feet, and somehow held on to the ball:
The drive stalled
subsequently, of course. But Smith's play was the lone bright spot for
the Knights and ended with seven catches for 102 yards (making him the
only Knight with multiple catches on the evening).
The Bulls poured it on after
that. USF made good use of the time remaining on the clock and ended the
half by tacking on a field goal.
Things looked no better for
the Knights in the second half. Flowers added his second rushing
touchdown on the opening drive of the half. And after UCF turned it over
on downs, Flowers threw a twenty-six yard touchdown pass to Price. The
Bulls would also add a pair of field goals.
With the easy win, the Bulls'
hopes to win the AAC East remain alive. If Temple stumbles, USF will
have a berth in the AAC Championship Game.
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