The UCF Knights showed their dominance on both sides of the ball Saturday night at Spectrum Stadium as they got back on track with a 41-28 win over the ECU Pirates.
UCF’s offense was its usual dominant self as they racked up 611 total yards, accumulating 414 of those through the air. Knights’ true freshman quarterback Dillon Gabriel led this air attack, connecting on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis in the middle of the second quarter.
UCF redshirt sophomore quarterback Darriel Mack Jr. was also involved in the passing game as he also found Davis for his second receiving touchdown in the game.
On the ground, the Knights were especially deadly as their first three touchdowns were obtained through the running game. All three of these touchdowns were scored by three different runners, including pocket passer Gabriel.
UCF easily pounded the ball past ECU, totaling 197 yards as well as averaging 4.2 yards per carry.
Leading this rushing attack was UCF junior running back Otis Anderson Jr. who racked up 80 yards on 18 attempts. Anderson Jr. took over after junior running back Greg McCrae left the game with an unfortunate leg injury late in the first quarter.
As for the other side of the ball, UCF continued to put pressure in the backfield and obtain tackles for loss. Prior to this game, UCF held the eighth position in the nation for tackles for loss per game with 8.8. They continued this trend as they were able to tackle ECU’s ball carriers 12 times behind the line of scrimmage
Redshirt junior linebacker Eric Mitchell led the Knights’ defense recording 2.5 tackles for loss, along with a sack and a pass breakup.
With this win, the Knights can put the past behind them and keep their AAC championship hopes alive. They’ll have to win out the rest of the season if they want to compete for another title, as the rest of their opponents are all from the American Athletic Conference.
This is a developing story. Check back with Knight News for updates.
