Who were these Knights?
This did not look like the same hit-or-miss UCF team we’ve been following this season.
These Knights looked complete. Able to control all phases of the game, UCF dominated its way to a 49-17 victory over UConn on Saturday.
No longer just a “replacement”
Freshman quarterback Mikey Keene played the best football of his very young collegiate career.
The true freshman ultimately finished the evening completing of 23 of 29 pass-attempts, setting a new career high with a 79.3 completion percentage. Keene threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
To top it off, Keene ran for 33 yards on four attempts.
More notable than his impressive stat line was his 30-yard rushing touchdown, where he evaded a couple Husky defenders en route to his first collegiate rushing score.
“He did a really good job.” UCF head coach Gus Malzahn said of the play. “We’ve been waiting for that moment,” he continued.
Keene’s maturity throughout the season could potentially make for a major storyline going into the offseason regarding the future at the Knights’ QB position with the possibility of junior QB Dillon Gabriel (fractured clavicle) returning for his senior season.
Richardson provides a spark
Along with the superb outing by Keene, sophomore running back Johnny Richardson helped propel the Knights’ offense to its dominant victory over the Huskies.
The sophomore showed everyone why he should be the Knights’ primary back next season after senior running back Isaiah Bowser graduates. Richardson finished the night rushing for 147 yard and a touchdown. Richardson accumulated these yards on 14 attempts, averaging over 10 yards per carry.
Richardson caught a 17-yard touchdown in addition.
“Those were the two that really carried the medal for us today,” Malzahn said in reference to the Knights’ rushing duo of Richardson and sophomore back Mark-Antony Richards.
Gus Malzahn: The Magician?
Sitting on a folding chair elevated by a six-foot collapsing table on the sidelines due to his injury (fractured tibia), Malzahn did not let his condition stop him from pulling out the trick card.
And it couldn’t have gone any better.
On the first play of the Knights’ opening drive of the second quarter, Keene took the snap and immediately gave up the ball to junior receiver Ryan O’Keefe on an end-around.
With the Husky defense pursuing O’Keefe, the junior did the unthinkable: launched a deep-ball to a wide-open senior receiver Brandon Johnson for the 49-yard touchdown.
The touchdown extended the Knights’ already-colossal lead to 35-7.
An advantageous evening for the Knights’ defense
Going into the evening, UCF’s defense had a great opportunity to control its matchup vs. a UConn offense that has struggled to get much of anything going this season.
They took full advantage of this opportunity.
The Knights’ defensive unit forced three turnovers in the game – all three being interceptions.
These interceptions were accumulated by redshirt junior DB Divaad Wilson, redshirt defensive tackle Cam Goode, and sophomore DB Justin Hodges.
The Knights’ front seven controlled the battle against the Huskies’ offensive line, holding UConn to just 68 rushing yards in the first half.
In addition, this unit racked up nine tackles for loss on 64 total snaps, netting for 40 lost yards. Five of these tackles for loss came by way of sacking UConn sophomore QB Steven Krajewski.
With the win, UCF improves to 7-4 on the season and 5-3 in the American Athletic Conference.
What’s next?
The Knights will host South Florida (2-9) in the War On I4 next Friday at 3:30 p.m. This one is personal.
“We don’t like them and we are going to show them how much we don’t like them,” junior linebacker Tatum Bethune said following the win.
“We’ll have to get ready. They’re capable of playing good football,” Malzahn told the media.
The game will be aired on ESPN.
