It wasn’t pretty, and although it looked like the Knights were going to drop their American Athletic Conference opener against the Memphis Tigers, the Knights pulled out a 24-17 victory.
Trailing Memphis 17-10 with 2:05 to play, a fumble by Storm Johnson in the end zone that was recovered by Chris Martin tied the game up at 17-17. On the kickoff directly after the touchdown, a monstrous hit by true freshman Will Stanback led to a Memphis fumble which was recovered for another score by Drico Johnson. 14 points in nine seconds put the Knights up 24-17.
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However, Memphis wasn’t going down without a fight. The Tigers moved the ball all the way up to the UCF 10-yard line within a minute before an interception by Memphis QB Brandon Hayes derailed their drive. The Knights took a knee and with that took the game from Memphis.
Blake Bortles was bothered by the Memphis pass rush all game, which had more sacks than any FBS team in the nation coming into the game. Although Bortles did not throw any interceptions, or touchdowns for that matter, he had a season low 160 yards on 17/36 passing.
The UCF offense was out-gained in total yardage 397-270 by Memphis, and if it wasn’t for the late game push, the Knights could very well have started their AAC campaign off 0-1.
The defensive play of Terrance Plummer was one of the few bright spots for the Knights, who had two interceptions including the game-clinching pick to seal the Knight’s victory.
The Knights have a tough test ahead of them, traveling to no. 7 Louisville(5-0) on October 18 for their second AAC conference game of the season.
