Wrecking crew
UCF fights through offensive lulls to grind out win against Yellow Jackets
The performance was far from pretty but UCF got the result it wanted Saturday night against Georgia Tech inside FBC Mortgage Stadium.
The Knights (3-1, 0-0 AAC) led 13-7 at halftime but scored 11 points in the fourth quarter while pitching a defensive shutout in the final frame to pull away from the Yellow Jackets (1-3, 0-1 ACC).
“Our team is growing,” UCF coach Gus Malzahn said following the win. “I thought it was a quality win. There are a lot of things we can correct moving forward.”
UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee finished just 8 of 16 for just 49 yards and 1 interception but gained 100 yards rushing.
His 28-yard touchdown run in the third quarter put the game out of reach for Georgia Tech as the Knights went up 14 points with less than 11 minutes remaining.
When asked after the game about his passing, Plumlee used one word to describe it.
“Bad,” he said. “I’ve got to be better. There’s a lot of stuff I’ve got to get better at and I’m going to do that this next week.”
While UCF’s offense struggled for most of the game, failing to score a touchdown until the third quarter, it was Malzahn’s defense and special teams that came through.
Freshman kicker Colton Boomer, who took over the role last week from Daniel Obarski, nailed a 43-yard field goal with 4:17 left to give UCF the final margin. The Lake Mary product went 4-of-4 on kicks, nailing the others from 21, 31 and 34 yards.
“He’s off to a super start,” Malzahn said of Boomer. “[His kicks] were during primetime, during pressure situations.”
UCF also blocked a Georgia Tech punt with less than a
minute remaining in the first half as defensive back Quadric Bullard returned it for a touchdown.
Although Georgia Tech finished
with 452 yards of offense, it went 0-for-5 in the red zone and converted just 4 of 13 third downs.
“We did give up some yards, but once we got in the red zone we came up big time and time again,” Malzahn said.
The win marked UCF’s secondever
against Georgia Tech. The result also was Malzahn’s first win in his first meeting against school.