Knights make most of time at Senior Bowl
MOBILE, Ala. — UCF football players Shaquem Griffin, Jordan Akins and Tre’Quan Smith made the most of their Senior Bowl opportunities Saturday.
Griffin, who entered the game as the overall practice player of the week award winner, recorded four tackles and was lauded throughout the television broadcast.
Smith finished with five catches for 79 yards and one touchdown, while fellow Akins added two catches for 31 yards.
The Knights helped the South Team roll to a 45-16 win over the North team Saturday in Mobile, Ala., prompting Griffin to say with a grin during in a postgame interview that, “Everybody from UCF is still perfect.”
UCF players said they were praised for the Knights’ undefeated 2017 season during the Senior Bowl.
One of Griffin’s NFL Network interviews on the sideline during the game ran long and forced him to miss a special teams play, but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm he generated all week.
Griffin was patient when repeatedly asked about having his left hand amputated as a child and his ability to play football at a high level.
A mix of NFL scouts, journalists and fans have been lobbying to see Griffin earn an elusive NFL Scouting Combine invitation.
“I felt like I had to prove myself because obviously scouts can say one thing and people are going to say another,” Griffin said. “I had to make sure that I could show everybody what I could do, and I think I was able to accomplish that this week.”
Saturday was a big day for underdogs at the Senior Bowl.
Football Championship Subdivision standout Kyle Lauletta more than held his own in elite quarterback company.
Lauletta threw three second-half touchdown passes and Texas-San Antonio’s Marcus Davenport scored on a 19-yard fumble recovery to bolster the South squad.
Lauletta capped the weeklong audition for NFL teams in strong fashion, thriving amid more heralded passers from the North team. That group included Oklahoma Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield and Wyoming’s Josh Allen, a potential No. 1 overall draft pick who also had a huge third quarter.
“We knew that we were underdogs coming into the game for whatever reason,” said Lauletta, chosen as the game’s Most Valuable Player. “I guess that kind of motivated us. We knew that those quarterbacks on the other side were getting all the attention. So we just went out there and played our game. We did what we know how to do.”
Lauletta completed 8 of 12 passes for 198 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown strike to LSU’s DJ Chark and some other nice downfield throws. Davenport, projected as a likely first-rounder and potential top 10 pick, scooped up a fumble forced by Mississippi’s Marquis Haynes to punctuate a big third quarter.
Allen finished 9-of-13 passing for 158 yards, all but 14 coming in the third quarter, along with a pair of touchdowns.
Mayfield played only the North’s first two drives, going 3 of 7 for 9 yards. He left before the second half to fly to Austin, Texas, to be with his ailing mother.
Allen and Lauletta forged a nice third-quarter duel with each launching a couple of touchdown passes.
Allen led an 81-yard touchdown drive to start the second half with the North trailing 18-3. He ran for a first down and passed for a fourth-down conversion before faking an end around handoff and hitting Central Michigan tight end Tyler Conklin in the right corner of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown.
He followed that up with two big throws right on target: A 31-yarder to Colorado State’s Michael Gallup and a 27-yard touchdown to Notre Dame tight end Durham Smythe. The potential tying two-point attempt failed.
Lauletta answered on the next play with the bomb to a wide-open Chark.