ORLANDO — It was a tale of two halves.
Well, actually, it was a big UCF first half and a dominant third quarter for Kansas as the Jayhawks (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) rallied for a 27-20 Big 12 victory at the Acrisure Bounce House Saturday night.
After forcing a 3-and-Out on the opening series, the Knights (3-2, 0-2) would control the game behind the running of Myles Montgomery, the passing of Tayven Jackson and a stingy defense to score on all four of their possessions in the first half to take a 20-14 lead at halftime.
But after a scoreless first quarter, Kansas would score touchdowns on their final two possessions on the first half and then tack on two field goals on their first two possessions of the third period to tie the game at 20-20.
Meanwhile, UCF, which had started the game so strong, saw its offense disappear, running 12 plays and gaining just four yards on its four possessions of the third quarter.
The fourth series proved to be the difference. On third and six from their own 17-yard-line Jackson was injured when he was hit by unblocked blitzer and forced to fumble at the seven and the Jayhawks recovered the ball at the two.
Kansas scored a touchdown on the first play after the turnover and took the lead for the first time, 27-20, with 3-minutes left in the third period.
The Black and Gold would finally break out of its funk behind quarterback Cam Fancher, who replaced Jackson and was appearing in a game since the season-opener when Jackson took over for him because of an injury suffered on a big hit.
UCF made three nice drives, but back-to-back penalties forced a punt on the first series, the second series saw the Knights achieve a first-and-goal at the 1-yard-line, but four plays only got to the goal line and the third, after the defense forced a big 3-and-out, advanced again to the 22, but a near-perfect pass into the end zone was knocked away by a Kansas defender and two more passes fell incomplete.
Jackson was 14-for-23 passing for 97-yards and Fancher was 8-for-14 passing for 79-yards and also carried the ball seven times for 27-yards.
Montgomery would rush for over 100-yards for the second straight game, carrying the ball 22 times for 116-yards and two touchdowns, while Jaden Nixon gained 61-yards on seven carries.
Defensively, Lake Mary’s Braeden Marshall had three solo tackles, Sanford’s Demari Henderson had three tackles, two solo, and fellow Fighting Seminole Kam Moore had a big stop on Special Teams.
Up Next:
The Knights will travel to Ohio on Saturday to face the Cincinnati Bearcats at Nippert Stadium at noon on FS1.
The contest will also be carried on the radio on AM740/FM 96.9 The Game (Play-by-Play _ Marc Daniels; Analyst _ Gary Parris; Reporter _ Scott Adams), with the pregame show starting at 10 a.m., and Spanish Radio: UCFKnights.com, YouTube.com/UCFKnights.
Live Stats will be available at _ UCFKnights.com (https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=605186) _ and if you would like to comment, use Twitter _ @UCF_Football _ under the Hashtag _ #ChargeOn.
Here is the box score:
Kansas 27, UCF 20
Kansas 0 14 13 0 _ 27
UCF 7 13 0 0 _ 20
First Quarter
UCF _ Montgomery 29 run (Ruelas kick).
Second Quarter
UCF _ Montgomery 3 run (Ruelas kick).
Kansas _ Williams 1 run (Marjan kick).
UCF _ Ruelas 38 FG.
Kansas _ Williams 4 run (Marjan kick).
UCF _ Ruelas 38 FG.
Third Quarter
Kansas _ Marjan 33 FG.
Kansas _ Marjan 41 FG.
Kansas _ Williams 2 run (Marjan kick).
Fourth Quarter
No scoring.
McClain can’t save Bethune-Cookman
Sanford’s Timmy McClain passed for 266 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't enough as Alabama State held off Bethune-Cookman 52-35 in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Football contest at ASU Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
Bethune-Cookman (2-4, 1-1 SWAC) opened the game with an 85-yard scoring strike through the air as quarterback Cam'Ron Ransom linked up with receiver Maleek Huggins for a touchdown on the game's opening play from scrimmage. The Juan Dominguez extra point made it 7-0 in favor of the visitors in front of an ASU homecoming crowd of 24,736.
However, Alabama State (4-1, 2-0 SWAC) would respond by scoring on each of its next four possessions.
The Wildcats got back into it when transfer quarterback McClain entered the game in the second quarter and engineered a 10-play scoring drive capped by Huggins’s second receiving touchdown of the game. For the former USF and UCF signal-caller, it was his first passing touchdown of the season. That brought the Maroon and Gold to within 24-14 with under two minutes remaining in the first half.
McClain would score two more times in the second half on a pass to Javon Ross and another 1-yard run.
The Seminole High graduate was 24-for-34 through the air for 266-yards and the two scores and carried the ball for 29-yards and two more touchdowns. Trues freshman Khamani Robinson from Seminole High carried the ball 8-times for 46-yards.
Up Next:
B-CU is back in action Saturday when the Wildcats welcome SWAC opponent Southern (La.) to Daytona Beach for a 3 p.m. kickoff at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium.
Stetson edges Davidson
The Stetson Hatters defeated Davidson College 35-32 Saturday at Spec Martin Memorial Stadium, fueled by a record-setting rushing attack and key defensive plays. The Hatters rushed for 384 yards, a program single-game record, and scored five rushing touchdowns, including a 65-yard run from QB Chris Stephenson in his first career start. This victory marked Stetson's first Pioneer Football League (PFL) win since Oct. 7, 2023.
Stephenson led the offense with 135 rushing yards and two touchdowns while completing 7-of-9 passes for 90 yards. Sanford’s Trey Clark (Seminole High School) added 65 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and Cayden Betts contributed 124 rushing yards, giving the Hatters a balanced and dominant ground game. The win also marked the first time Stetson has had two 100-yard rushers (Stephenson and Betts) since Nov. 13, 2021. On defense, Trey Lockhart recorded nine tackles and forced a fumble, while Gabriel Gray added eight stops, helping Stetson hold off Davidson's late rally. With the win, the Hatters improved to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in PFL play, while Davidson dropped to 1-4 and 0-1 in conference action.
Up Next:
The Hatters will return to Spec Martin Memorial Stadium on Saturday to host Morehead State at 1 p.m. for Breast Cancer Awareness & Hilinski's Hope, presented by AdventHealth.
