The Knights (2-0) continued their impressive start to the 2013 campaign Friday night with an all-encompassing 38-0 victory over Florida International University (0-2) in Miami.
UCF mixed together a lethal dose of efficiency, balance and poise in putting together their first shutout since a 41-0 beat down of Memphis in 2011. The defense was stifling, giving up a scarce 173 yards to the Panthers’ offense.
Only once did FIU even sniff the scoreboard, missing a field goal as the final seconds ticked off the first half. Of their 11 other possessions in the game, the Panthers were forced to punt 10 times and turned the ball over on a fumble in the third quarter.
The heart of the unit has seemed to feed off of junior linebacker Terrance Plummer, who entered the game as the conference’s current defensive player of the week. Plummer held the front seven steady with a team leading seven tackles, his second week atop the team’s tackle total.
Deion Green, highly expected to keep the pass rush a factor UCF’s success this season, had his second sack in as many games.
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The offense took a different road to 38 points this week, changing course slightly from last week’s aerial assault on the Akron Zips.
Blake Bortles continues to impress with his decision making, adding another 19 pass attempts to his current streak without an interception. The quarterback was 12-19 with 214 yards and a touchdown, while adding 22 yards and another touchdown on the ground.
Of his 214 passing yards, an astounding 127 of them went to junior Rannell Hall, who recorded over a hundred receiving yards for the first time in his career. Both he and Miami native Jeff Godfrey had four receptions each to lead the Knights’ offense.
In contrast to the vertical game’s focus last week, Storm Johnson was the highlight of this week’s routing of the Panthers. Johnson had 89 yards on the ground while rumbling and stumbling his way to a career high three touchdowns.
Johnson had 5 career touchdowns before he was named the starter in 2013, four of which came last year as the primary backup. Through two games this season, he has doubled his career total to 10 touchdowns, and set a new season high of 5.
The Knights look to continue their undefeated season in Pennsylvania next week against the iconic Penn State Nittany Lions. The game will start at 6:00 PM on Saturday the 14th, and will be aired on the Big Ten Network.
