South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
And the streak goes on for Knights
UCF rallies to beat Memphis, extend nation’s longest win streak to 19 games
MEMPHIS — UCF players dismissed the idea of Memphis being a rival, but they might want to re-evaluate that idea after the Knights rallied to put together a thrilling comefrom-behind 31-30 victory over the Tigers Saturday afternoon.
Trailing 30-17 at halftime, UCF scored 14 consecutive points in the second half, capped by McKenzie Milton’s seven-yard touchdown run. The junior quarterback flipped endover-end into the end zone for the decisive score. The extra point pushed the Knights’ lead to 31-30 with 12:14 left in the contest.
“In games like this, you gotta sell out for your team,” Milton said of the play.
Both teams threatened, but neither would reach the end zone again amid soggy conditions.
Memphis was in the midst of a promising drive and had pulled into fieldgoal range, but the Tigers were out of timeouts and couldn’t get out of bounds before time expired. The clock-management miscue helped the Knights extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 19 games.
“The second half, it’s pouring rain, kind of cold — some stuff that we’re not used to. But when adversity hit, we responded. I’m just proud of our guys,” Milton said of the game conditions.
After suffering through uncharacteristic penalties, offensive ineffectiveness and the defense’s inability to slow down the rush including Memphis running back Darrell Henderson, the Knights (6-0, 3-0 AAC) managed to reboot in the UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton (10) dives over Memphis defensive back’s Josh Perry (4) and T.J. Carter (2) to score the go-ahead touchdown on a 7-yard run with 12:14 remaining in Saturday’s game at Memphis. The drive capped a big comeback for UCF, which trailed by 16 in the second quarter but held Memphis scoreless in the second half.
second half.
Things began to turn for the team when on a fourthand-one on its own 28 and trailing 30-17 late in the third, UCF lined up in a short-yardage formation. Taj McGowan sprung free for a 71-yard touchdown run aided by a wicked block from defensive end Trysten Hill.
“The crazy thing is we’re kind of up in the air about whether we were going to go for it or punt it,” McGowan said. “The whole offense was like, ‘We need to go for it. We got this.’ ”
The late surge from McGowan and Milton offset an ugly first half.
The UCF defense allowed Memphis to score on all six of its first-half possessions.
The Tigers (4-3, 1-3 AAC) took the opening possession of the game and drove 46 yards deep into UCF territory. The Knights would get a touchdown-saving tackle from Richie Grant on running back Darrell Henderson and a Nevelle Clarke pass breakup that led to a 43-yard field goal by Riley Patterson.
Milton got things going during the team’s second possession with a squib pass to Marlon Williams that went for 32 yards to the Memphis 43-yard line. Greg McRae split the defense for a 22-yard run that put UCF at the four-yard line. McGowan found the end zone two plays later to give the Knights a 7-3 lead.
Memphis wasted little time on its next possession thanks to a 43-yard run by Henderson that put Tigers back into UCF territory. Quarterback Brady White got some help in the form of two offsides penalties by the defense before the redshirt junior quarterback raced into the end zone on an
11-yard touchdown run that put Memphis back in front
10-7.
UCF struggled on its next offensive possession thanks to another sack coupled with a sideline-interference penalty that forced the team to punt.
The Knights’ defense had no early answers for Henderson, who had five plays of at least 10 yards the first quarter, including a
20-yard run and a 25-yard touchdown run that pushed the Memphis lead to 17-7 at the end of the first quarter. Henderson earned 115 rushing yards in the first quarter.
The offense, meanwhile, wasn’t doing much better.
After a 44-yard kickoff return by Adrian Killins that gave the Knights excellent field position near midfield, the team failed to convert on four consecutive plays, including a fourthand-two pass the was tipped at the line of scrimmage, giving the Tigers the football at their own
44-yard line.
UCF managed to hold Memphis to a 45-yard field goal that pushed the lead to
20-7 with 10:58 left in the first half.
However, the Knights quickly cut the lead to 20-14 after Milton found streaking Gabriel Davis, who raced through the Memphis defense for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive. It took all of 12 seconds off the clock and it was Milton’s 16th touchdown pass of the season.
Memphis responded with a 21-yard field goal that pushed the lead to 23-14 with just over five minutes left in the first half.
The Tigers scored again, this time on a 19-yard touchdown run by Tony Pollard that expanded the lead to 30-14.
Milton worked quickly, driving the offense downfield before being forced to settle for a 44-yard Matthew Wright field goal that made the score 30-17 at intermission.
Wright became the program’s all-time points leader with that kick, pushing past Shawn Moffitt in the record books.
UCF stopped Memphis on its opening drive of the second half, forcing the Tigers to punt for the first time Saturday. But the offense stalled once again after Milton was sacked for the third time.
Somehow, the Knights regrouped late in the game.
UCF first-year coach Josh Heupel said his message to the team at halftime was a simple one.
“Keep competing,” Heupel said. “We talked about it before we left the hotel and we talked about it before we left Orlando: play it like it’s 0-0 for 60 minutes whether it’s good or bad.”
The defense figured out how to contain the Tigers’ runs amid soggy conditions and Milton made enough plays to lift the offense.
“We’re resilient and when things get tough, we’re going to stick together,” Milton said. “... I love my guys to death. I’m just proud of them.”