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After being postponed twice due to the effects of Hurricane Ian, the UCF Knights (4-1; 1-0 AAC) opened their last season in the American Athletic Conference with a big 41-19 win against the SMU Mustangs (2-3; 0-1 AAC) on Wednesday night. The game was nationally televised on ESPN2. The Knights now enjoy a bye week before taking on the Owls of Temple on Thursday, October 13th at 7pm. That game will be nationally televised on ESPN. Below is the AAC’s report on UCF’s big win over SMU:

John Rhys Plumlee threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns, both coming in the second half to Ryan O’Keefe, and UCF scored 31 unanswered points to beat SMU 41-19 on Wednesday night in a game postponed because of tropical weather.

UCF trailed 13-10 at halftime before scoring four touchdowns in the second half.

O’Keefe made a diving catch in the end zone on a 26-yard throw to extend UCF’s lead to 24-13 with 3:07 left in the third quarter. O’Keefe added a 58-yard touchdown early in the fourth on a shuffle-pass jet sweep.

O’Keefe finished with six catches for 117 yards and two scores, and Javon Baker added 138 yards receiving for UCF (4-1, 1-0 American Athletic Conference). Isaiah Bowser had three short touchdown runs.

The UCF defense made three keys plays. Jason Johnson recovered a fumble on SMU’s first possession of the game, Divaad Wilson made an interception to end the first half and Tre’mon Morris-Brash sacked Tanner Mordecai in the end zone for a safety in the fourth quarter.

Mordecai was 28 of 45 for 295 yards with one interception for SMU (2-3, 0-1). Rashee Rice, who entered leading the nation in receiving yards per game at 141.2, had 12 catches for 122 yards.

The game was rescheduled twice due to Hurricane Ian. It was initially scheduled to be played Saturday at UCF’s on-campus stadium before shifting to Sunday.

UCF coach Gus Malzahn guided new SMU coach Rhett Lashlee in high school at Shiloh Christian in Arkansas from 1999-01. Lashlee also served as an offensive coordinator at Auburn under Malzahn.

Check out video highlights of the game below, courtesy of the AAC:

The UCF Knights (3-1; 0-0 AAC) overcame some offensive stalls to defeat the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech (1-3; 0-1 AAC) on Saturday in front of a loud and boisterous crowd at FBC Mortgage Stadium on the beautiful UCF campus. The Knights will move into American Conference play on Saturday against the SMU Mustangs (2-2; 0-0 AAC). Kickoff is set for 3:30pm and the game will be televised on ESPNU. Check out news and video highlights of UCF’s 27-10 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday below:

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — On a day when senior quarterback John Rhys Plumlee completed just eight passes, UCF scored on a blocked punt and rode four Colton Boomer field goals to a 27-10 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday.

“A win is a win, no matter what it looks like,” said Plumlee, who has produced two games of 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards this season. “What stood out today was our defense and special teams.”

Plumlee did not complete a pass in the first quarter and finished 8 of 16 for 49 yards with an interception and two sacks. He carried 16 times for 100 yards to lead the Knights’ ground game.

Plumlee described his performance as “bad. I think I’ve got to be better and I will be better.”

RJ Harvey and Isaiah Bowser combined for 143 yards on 31 carries, and the Knights averaged 5.1 yards per rush.

“We were having success on the ground so he kept leaning on us,” Bowser said.

UCF (3-1) drove 71 yards on 20 plays, all of them on the ground, on the game’s opening series to take a 3-0 lead on a 21-yard Boomer field goal.

Jeff Sims threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Carter to give Georgia Tech (1-3) a 7-3 lead in the second quarter, but the Knights got field goals from 21- and 31-yards out and, with :41 left in the first half, Jarvis Ware blocked David Shanahan’s punt. Quandric Bullard scooped up the loose ball at the Yellow Jackets’ 29 and scored to send UCF into intermission with a 13-7 lead.

“The big play of the game was the blocked punt right before halftime. It gave us some momentum,” said UCF coach Guz Malzahn. “When you go into the locker room with momentum, that’s really good in football.”

The teams traded third quarter field goals and Plumlee charged 28 yards for a touchdown with 10:37 left in the game, then passed for the two-point conversion and Boomer added a 43-yard field goal with 4:17 left.

Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste sacked Sims in the second half and Tre’mon Morris-Brash returned the Tech fumble 89 yards, only to be stripped at the goal line by Nate McCollum for a Georgia Tech touchback. The Yellow Jackets then drove for a 42-yard Jude Kelley field goal to make it 16-10.

But two big penalties helped UCF on a 57-yard touchdown drive that ended with Plumlee’s touchdown run, which gave the Knights a 24-10 lead with 10:37 remaining.

Sims was 21 of 32 passing for 314 yards and a touchdown for Georgia Tech. He was sacked four times.

Georgia Tech lost its ninth straight game against an FBS opponent but outgained UCF, 452 yards to 333. Eight penalties, some of them prolonging UCF drives, were critical, and linebacker Charlie Thomas was disqualified for targeting during UCF’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive.

UCF did not post gaudy offensive stats but showed it could win with defense and big special teams plays when Plumleee had an off day. “We did give up some yards,” noted Malzahn, “but once we got in the red zone we came up with big plays time and time again.”

The UCF Knights (2-1; 0-0 AAC) soundly defeated the Owls of FAU (2-2) on Saturday a week after suffering a rare at-home defeat against Louisville. The Knights now take on the Rambling Wreck of Georgia Tech (1-2) at home on Saturday at 4pm. the game will be nationally televised on ESPNU. Below is a recap and video highlights of the Knights’ win on Saturday at FAU courtesy of the American Athletic Conference:

BOCA RATON, Fla. – After allowing just 18 yards in the second half, UCF football bounced back in a big way with a 40-14 win against Florida Atlantic Saturday night at FAU Stadium. The Knights defense held the Owls to zero yards in the third quarter and only allowed 18 yards in the fourth quarter.

UCF (2-1) has now won all four games in the series against Florida Atlantic (2-2), including a perfect 2-0 record at FAU Stadium.

Florida Atlantic scored on its opening drive of the game, but UCF quickly responded to knot the score at 7-7. Following consecutive passes to Ryan O’Keefe and Xavier Townsend, Knights quarterback John Rhys Plumlee called his own number and scored on a rushing play from seven yards out.

The Owls scored a second touchdown with a few seconds remaining in the first quarter, but the Knights defense held Florida Atlantic scoreless for the final three quarters.

A 41-yard field goal from freshman kicker Colton Boomer, making his collegiate debut, cut the UCF deficit to 14-10 and Plumlee scored his second rushing touchdown of the game a few minutes later to give the Knights a 16-14 lead at halftime. The Hattiesburg, Mississippi, native turned in a career performance with 121 rushing yards, a career-high 339 passing yards and 25 completions for three total touchdowns.

The second half was all UCF with the Knights compiling 327 yards of total offense and limiting Florida Atlantic to 18 total yards.

Isaiah Bowser opened the second-half scoring with a 1-yard rushing touchdown, his fifth of the season. The Sidney, Ohio, native has scored a rushing touchdown in all three games this season and dating back to the bowl game last year, Bowser has seven touchdowns in his last four games.

A 3-yard touchdown run from RJ Harvey pushed the Knights’ lead to 30-14 on the redshirt junior running back’s first career touchdown.

Boomer connected on a 29-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to finish a perfect 2-2 on field goal attempts, stretching the UCF advantage to 33-14. Javon Baker reeled in a 20-yard pass from Plumlee for the final score of the game to cap a nine-play, 69-yard drive.

UCF returns to action at home next weekend when the Knights welcome Georgia Tech for a 4 p.m. kickoff on ESPNU from FBC Mortgage Stadium.

The UCF Knights (1-0; 0-0 AAC) soundly defeated the Bulldogs of South Carolina State (0-1; 0-0 MEAC) on Thursday in front of an almost at-capacity crowd at fbs Mortgage Stadium on the beautiful campus of the University of Central Florida. As reported by the AAC:

John Rhys Plumlee figured in five touchdowns as UCF opened its 2022 season with a 56-10 win against South Carolina State Thursday night at FBC Mortgage Stadium. Plumlee, the former Ole Miss signal-caller who most recently spent two seasons as a receiver for the Rebels, passed for 308 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 86 yards and another score in his UCF debut and his return to the quarterback position. Plumlee helped stake the Knights to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.

Isaiah Bowser rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns to help the Knights rush for 292 yards as a team. UCF gained 600 yards on offense, while the defense limited the Bulldogs to 91 yards (56 passing, 35 rushing). The Knights took a 42-10 lead into the fourth quarter, but Plumlee found Zach Marsh-Wojan for a 21-yard score to make it a 39-point lead before Quadric Bullard capped the scoring when he blocked a punt and dove on the loose ball in the end zone.

The Knights take on the Cardinals of Louisville (0-1; 0-1 ACC) for a primetime matchup on Friday at 7:30pm. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2. Check out highlights of UCF’s win over SC State below, courtesy of the American Athletic Conference: