The UCF Knights (7-0; 4-0 AAC) broke a high-scoring school record in Saturday’s 73-33 win against the Governors of Austin Peay (5-3). The win also saw the Knights maintain their undefeated record and bumped them up to #14 in the national rankings (#15 AP/3#14 Coaches) after rival USF lost to Houston. As reported by the AP:
McKenzie Milton threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns and scored another on the ground and No. 18/14 UCF reinforced its reputation for having one of the most explosive offenses in the country with a 73-33 win over Austin Peay on Saturday night.
The 73 points scored was a school record for the Knights, who lead the nation in scoring. UCF scored on 11 of 12 possessions. It’s the first time in program history that the Knights have started the season 7-0. Milton completed his first 14 passes and finished the game 24 of 26. He scored on a 3-yard run before going to the bench in the middle of the third quarter.
Dredrick Snelson caught five of Milton’s passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Mike Hughes had a 91-yard kickoff return for a score and Shaquem Griffin returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown. Austin Peay (5-3) had some good moments offensively but couldn’t match UCF’s speed and depth. Governors wide receiver Kyran Moore scored on a 91-yard kickoff return and 35-yard touchdown reception while rolling up 346 all-purpose yards.
The game will be remembered as much for its bizarre plays as the final score. There were two kickoff returns for touchdowns (one each); a fumble return for a touchdown (UCF); a tipped pass for a touchdown (Austin Peay); going four-for-four on fourth-down conversions (two each); a lineman scoring a touchdown after recovering the second of two fumbles on a 5-yard run (Austin Peay); an unsportsmanlike penalty on a head coach (UCF); and a 27-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds.
Hughes’ 91-yard kickoff return was matched stride-for-stride by Kyran Moore during a wild second quarter when the two teams combined for 50 points. Griffin’s fumble return for a touchdown was part of the action and Taj McGowan scored twice on runs of two and four yards. Austin Peay had plenty of highlights, too. Governors guard Ryan Rockensuess scored when he fell on teammate Michael Hoover’s fumble in the end zone, after Hoover had scooped up Ahmaad Tanner’s fumble that started the play.
Trey Pruitt ran on to a tipped pass and got his feet down inbounds to finish off a 12-yard scoring play. Not to be outdone, Moore got credit for a 35-yard touchdown reception when he snatched the ball out of midair after UCF safety Antwan Collier dropped a sure interception. Watch video highlights of the game below, courtesy of the American Athletics Conference. UCF travels to Dallas this Saturday to take on the Mustangs of SMU (6-2; 3-1 AAC). That game will be nationally-televised on ESPN2 with kickoff set for 7:10pm EDT (8:10pm EST).