UCF Knights vs Penn State Nittany Lions Match Player Stats On Sep 14, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 14, 2013

Central Florida 34, Penn State 31: Blake Bortles passed for 288 yards and three touchdowns and Storm Johnson rushed for 117 yards and a score as the visiting Knights held on for their first 3-0 start since 1988.

Bortles went 20-for-27 and hit J.J. Worton seven times for 101 yards and a touchdown. Josh Reese and Johnson also caught touchdown passes for Central Florida (3-0), which earned its first win against a Big Ten team.

Allen Robinson hauled in nine catches for 143 yards and a touchdown for Penn State (2-1), which saw the end of its four-game win streak dating back to last season. Zach Zwinak rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns but lost a fumble to kill a Lions drive, trailing by 10 with 5:43 to play in the fourth quarter.

Bortles threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes and Johnson ripped off a 58-yard touchdown run in the first half as Central Florida built a 21-7 lead before Sam Ficken's 47-yard field goal cut it to 21-10 at halftime. Bortles' 25-yard scoring pass to Reese padded the margin early in the third, but Zwinak punched in a pair of touchdowns while the Knights settled for field goals to trim it to 34-24.

Zwinak’s fumble stalled Penn State's rally attempt, but a bad punt snap gave the Nittany Lions the ball back on the Knights' 25 and set up Christian Hackenberg's 5-yard scoring toss to Robinson. The Knights iced it when Bortles connected with Worton for 13 yards to convert a first down, then ran out the clock.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Central Florida improved to 1-7 versus Big Ten teams. … Bortles' interception in the second quarter was his first in 232 attempts dating to last season. … Ficken came up short on a 57-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half, ending his school-record streak of 15 consecutive made field goals.