All systems were a go for UCF as John Rhys Plumlee produced seven touchdowns for the Knights to match a program record to dominate the Temple Owls 70-13 in seventh annual Space Game.
After a field goal from the owls in the second quarter, it was all UCF for the rest of the game as the Knights’ offense was out of this world, scoring 56 unanswered points for 737 total yards and 10 total touchdowns for the team to pick up their seventh straight space game win.
Senior Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee had one of the best games of his career throwing for 373 yards and 4 touchdowns with 3 touchdowns on the ground to tie for program record for the Knights.
UCF Football Head Coach Gus Malzahn said he thought his team’s performance was the best of the season as the Knights hit the halfway mark of the 2022 campaign.
“We played our best football game,” Malzahn said. “We got better. We’re at the halfway point now of our season and we need to continue to hammer down and get better.”
The game marks the first time the Knights have scored 70+ points since 2017 where UCF scored 73 in a rout of Austin Peay.
Malzahn said The Knights, which led the Owls by just 14-13 at the 8:41 mark of the second quarter, was dealing with a pretty good defense in Temple, but UCF had too many weapons on the offensive side of the ball for their AAC foe.
“They’re a quality defense,” Malzahn said. “When we can run and pass the football, We’re a pretty good offense.”
This marks the second week in a row that UCF has had two receivers have over 100 yards catching in a game, with Junior Kobe Hudson racking up four catches for 121 yards which included a 64-yard TD to give the Knights a 56-13 lead midway through the 3rd quarter. Junior receiver Ryan O’Keefe also added two touchdowns of seven catches for 111 yards as well.
Plumlee said he enjoys having playmakers on his team who can make big plays happen on offense
“When you can distribute the ball to your playmakers and let them make plays, it makes everybody look good,” Plumlee said.
With the Win the Knights advance to 5-1 overall for the season and remain unbeaten in the AAC going 2-0 in the conference.
The Knights will head north next Saturday as they are on the road taking on the East Carolina Pirates in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
