SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 22, 2014
UCF 53, SMU 7: Dontravious Wilson ran for two early touchdowns to spark the Knights to a convincing home victory in American Athletic Conference action.
Justin Holman passed for 228 yards and two touchdowns for UCF (7-3, 5-1), which moved into a first-place tie with Memphis atop the league standings. Wilson rushed for 80 yards and Micah Reed led the Knights with 112 yards on the ground.
Matt Davis and Garrett Krstich each threw an interception for SMU (0-10, 0-6) and combined to go 9-of-22 for just 50 yards. Davis had a team-high 40 rushing yards and a score for the Mustangs, who have lost 12 straight games.
The game was basically decided in the first quarter, as UCF scored four touchdowns - two runs by Wilson and two passing scores from Holman - to take a 27-0 lead. The only semblance of momentum for SMU came on Davis' 5-yard TD run early in the second quarter, but Michael Easton promptly returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a score to zap the Mustangs' hopes.
UCF kicked four second-half field goals to extend the lead to 46-7 with 11:28 remaining in the contest. Nick Patti's short scoring run with 3:18 left capped the scoring as the Knights won for the seventh time in eight games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The total yardage at halftime was 334-47 in favor of UCF. The passing yardage was 192-9. For the game, the Knights held a 490-116 advantage in total yards and a 254-50 advantage through the air. ... Nine different Knights receivers caught at least one pass, but none of them caught more than three or had more than 64 yards. ... SMU was just 3-of-11 on third down while UCF was 9-of-17.