UCF downs Herd, earns 3rd straight season with 10 W’s
TAMPA — UCF linebacker Nate Evans couldn’t stop smiling as he bobbed and weaved his way through the throng assembled midfield at Raymond James Stadium on Monday night.
The Knights had just put the finishing touches on a 48-25 win over Marshall in the Gasparilla Bowl, winning their 10th game of the season and giving the program its third consecutive double-digit win season.
Teammates stopped to give the senior a hug, others wanted to chat and others were hoping to capture the moment with a photograph.
Evans finished with a team-high 12 tackles and a sack, but it was two rushing carries near the goal line at the end of the game that represented the perfect ending to his college career.
“There is no other way that I would have preferred to go out,” Evans said the win.
“Since I got here on Day 1, every defen
sive guy wants to play on offense and screaming they can,” UCF coach Josh Heupel said when asked about giving Evans the chance to close his college career carrying the ball. “We have a deal inside the program that if you’re a defensive guy and you score a touchdown, you’re going to play on offense before your career’s done and we were able to get that done with Nate today.”
Evans wasn’t the only defender to shine.
Safety Richie Grant and linebacker Tre’mon Morris-Brash scored touchdowns on an interception and fumble return, respectively, as the Knights recorded a season-high five turnovers.
“It changed the way the game was played early in the football game,” Heupel said. “The turnovers on defense were critical and created a bunch of space between us and them on the scoreboard.”
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel started out slow, but he finished the game 14-of-24 passing for 260 yards with two touchdowns, his 28th and 29th scores of the season. He earned the bowl’s Most Valuable Player honors.
“I think there are some things to learn from over the course of this season,” Gabriel said when asked to assess his freshman season. “From getting here in January to learning so much and obviously going through my first full season, I think overall there some things to work on individually and as a team and as an offense.”
He finished his rookie season with 3,653 passing yards, which ranked as the fourth-most in a single UCF season behind McKenzie Milton (4,037), Ryan Schneider (3,770) and Daunte Culpepper (3,690).
Junior receiver Otis Anderson finished the bowl with 130 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown catch from Gabriel in the third quarter that pushed UCF’s lead to 31-7.
Running back Greg McCrae added another score, a 26-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
The junior finished with a team-high 80 rushing yards.
The rain began about an hour before kickoff as showers drenched Raymond James Stadium, sending fans into the concourse for cover. Heartier fans wrapped themselves in colorful ponchos, waiting out the storm.
The weather appeared to be a factor for the teams, at least early on, as Marshall turned the football over twice during a 1:15 stretch at the start of the game.
Grant picked off a pass by Marshall quarterback Isaiah Green on the third play of the game, returning it 39 yards for the score. It was Grant’s first interception of the season and the second pick-six of the year for the Knights.
Grant wasn’t finished being disruptive.
On the Thundering Herd’s next possession, he ripped the football out of the hands of Marshall tight end Armani Levias after a gain of 45 yards and it fell to
Antwan Collier.
Morris-Brash got in on the scoring act after Green’s pass in the backfield was ruled a fumble. The UCF freshman picked it up and returned it 55 yards for a score.
“Those guys came out hard,” Evans said. “I talked with the team before we even went out on the field and I said, ‘It’s my last game and I want you to turn it up for me and turn it up for me. The whole team just bought in and played a heck of a game.”
Receiver Marlon Williams finished the bowl game with a career-high 132 yards on seven catches, including a 75-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter.
UCF finished with 587 yards, including 310 rushing yards.
Defensively, the Knights held Marshall to 19 first downs and 361 yards.
UCF dominated the matchup without several key contributors on both offense and defense, including receiver Gabe Davis, running back Adrian Killins, cornerback Nevelle Clarke, safety Jordan Hayes and defensive end Brendan Hayes.