BYU Cougars vs UCF Knights Match Player Stats On Oct 09, 2014

Central Florida 31, Brigham Young 24 (OT): Justin Holman threw for two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in overtime, and ran for another as the host Knights edged the Cougars.

Central Florida (3-2) had a potential game-winning 50-yard field goal blocked in the waning seconds of regulation, but needed only five plays to jump in front in the extra period as Holman connected with William Stanback on a 4-yard pass. The Cougars (4-2) worked their way to the Knights’ 6 on their only possession of overtime, but Christian Stewart’s fourth-down throw fell incomplete to preserve Central Florida’s second straight dramatic victory.

Holman finished 30-of-51 for 326 yards – all career highs – while Josh Reese (five catches for 87 yards), Breshad Perriman (six for 83) and Rannell Hall (eight for 71) helped carry the passing attack for the Knights. Stewart went 22-for-37 for 153 yards and three second-half scores in his first career start in place of the injured Taysom Hill.

Holman connected on his first eight pass attempts, including five on a 12-play opening drive that ended with his 5-yard TD run on a fourth-and-one, and Shawn Moffitt contributed a 42-yard field goal on the next possession. BYU got on the board in the second quarter on a 32-yard kick by Trevor Samson and Sione Takitaki strip-sacked Holman near the end of the first half to thwart a potential scoring drive.

The Cougars, who scored only nine points in their first four-plus quarters with Stewart, exploded for 21 in the third as the senior signal-caller took advantage of two turnovers and threw his first career TD passes over a 2:51 span, the last two of which went to Devin Mahina to make it 24-10. Stanbeck countered with a 2-yard run on the ensuing drive and Central Florida pulled even with 10:17 left in regulation on Holman’s 37-yard scoring strike to Reese.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cougars CB Jordan Johnson was carted off and left in an ambulance after suffering an upper arm injury on Holman’s touchdown run. BYU S Craig Bills (concussion), who entered the contest as the team’s leading tackler, was injured while covering a punt later in the first quarter and did not return. … Holman completed 12 passes in the opening quarter, matching the number he managed over the last two games combined. … Central Florida DE Thomas Niles became the first player in school history to post a sack in six straight games after recording one in the third quarter.