UCF keeps title hopes alive with win over Tulane
Darriel Mack Jr. threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score, Dillon Gabriel threw a touchdown pass and Central Florida held off Tulane 34-31 on Saturday in New Orleans to keep its hopes for a third straight American Athletic Conference championship alive.
The Knights (8-3, 5-2) entered having lost three games by a combined seven points but jumped to a 10-0 lead after Dylan Barnas’s 35-yard field goal and Gabriel’s 23-yard scoring pass to Marlon Williams (nine catches for 119 yards). Otis Anderson’s 44-yard scoring run put the Knights up 17-7 at halftime.
Mack scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter and his 2-yard pass to Anthony Roberson gave the Knights a 31-17 lead before Barnas kicked the winning 26-yard field goal.
Stephon Huderson returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score for Tulane (6-5, 3-4). Corey Dauphine ran for two TDs and the Green Wave closed to 34-24 after his 7-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
After stopping the Knights on downs, Tulane’s Justin McMillan threw a 7-yard TD pass to Jalen McCleskey on fourth-and-goal with 26 seconds to play and UCF recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal it.
Gabriel was 24 of 46 for 317 passing yards for UCF.
A Bethune- Cookman 31, Florida A&M 27: Isaac Washington scored the go-ahead touchdown with two minutes left, and Devin James intercepted Ryan Stanley on the ensuing Florida A&M drive to seal a dramatic win for the Wildcats in the 40th Florida Classic in Orlando.
The Wildcats (7-4, 5-3) have now won nine straight games in the series, dating back to 2011. This one, played in front of the largest crowd since 2011 (55,730), was arguably the sweetest.
The 13th-ranked Rattlers (9-2, 7-1) entered Saturday’s contest with their own ninegame winning streak, and hadn’t lost since the seasonopener in August. B-CU, meanwhile, had dropped three in a row after a 6-1 start, and was eliminated from Celebration Bowl contention last week.
Trevor Merrit’s pick-6 on FAMU’s opening drive gave B-CU and early lead, and Akevious Williams’ 28-yard touchdown pass to Steffon Francois midway through the second quarter made it 21-7.
Williams, a redshirt senior quarterback hit Francois for a gain of 44 down to the FAMU 15 with under three minutes left, and Washington scored on the next play to put B-CU back in front.
Williams finished with 269 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Washington led all rushers with 104 yards.
The Wildcats outgained the Rattlers, 467-353.
Stetson 31, Morehead State 16: Gaven DeFilippo threw for three touchdowns and ran for another and the Hatterssnapped a two-game losing streak to finish the regular season with a win over the host Eagles (5-7, 3-5).
DeFilippo had 230 yards passing for the Hatters (7-4, 4-4 Pioneer League). He also had 91 rushing yards. Jalen Leary ran for 97 yards on 15 carries. Max Draper had four catches for 101 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
DeFilippo threw two touchdown passes to Draper in the second quarter, of 12 and 74 yards, to give Stetson a 14-6 halftime lead.