Trip south no fun for Huskies

QB Milton rips UConn for 311 yards in AAC tilt

ORLANDO, Fla. — Otis Anderson rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns, McKenzie Milton passed for 311 yards and No. 14 Central Florida pulled away from UConn for a 49-24 victory on Saturday.

Anderson had a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and helped the undefeated Knights break it open with a 65-yard touchdown run, making it 35-17 with 14:11 left. The freshman bounced back nicely after he had a costly fumble in the third quarter.

“My teammates told me to keep my head up and go back out and make another play,” Anderson said. “For me to get back into the game and show I could make another big play is real important.”

UCF (9-0, 6-0 American Athletic Conference, CFP, No. 18) also got a solid performance from Milton, who was 24-for-36 passing. He tossed a 6-yard TD pass to Marlon Williams in the first quarter and a 41-yarder to Tre’Quan Smith with 7:43 left in the first half, helping the Knights to a 28-10 lead at the break.

“When you look up and you didn’t have best day but you have 49 points those are good problems,” UCF coach Scott Frost said. “We can play a lot better but I think the guys made enough plays.”

After Anderson’s second TD, Milton added a 4-yard touchdown run that made it 42-17 with 8:54 left.

David Pindell passed for 201 yards and a touchdown

and also ran for a score for UConn (3-7, 2-5), but the Huskies were unable to keep up with the highscoring Knights. Pindell was inserted into the starting lineup in place of the injured Bryant Shirreffs.

Pindell’s 9-yard touchdown run made it 28-17 early in the second half. UCF failed to score in the third, just the second time this season the Knights went scoreless in a quarter.

But they made up for it with a big finish. Noah Vedral’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Cam Stewart made it 49-17 with 7:03 left.

Pindell led the Huskies with 21 carries for 96 yards. He was 18 for 31 through the air, also throwing an interception.

“I was impressed with him, he’s a good athlete,” Frost said. “I think they are getting better as a football team from what I saw earlier in the year.”

Smith finished with seven catches for 120 yards for UCF.

THE TAKEAWAY

UConn: Pindell, a junior college transfer, was benched after starting the season opener. His dualthreat ability gave the Huskies the spark that they needed.

UCF: The Knights must improve their run defense if they hope to win the AAC title and make it to a New Year’s Six bowl.

UP NEXT

UConn: The Huskies step out of conference play to take on Boston College on Saturday.

UCF: The Knights travel to Temple on Saturday for their final league road game.

John Raoux / Associated Press UConn running back Arkeel Newsome, right, is tackled by Central Florida linebacker Pat Jasinski during the first half of Sunday’s game in Orlando, Fla.