UCF sometimes relies on their punter too much. Luckily not this game, which featured 579 yards in return yardage (369 on INTs and 210 via Liberty's Julian Gray on KRs (including 1 TD, for 102 yards).
The game started off with a traditional opening drive, with UCF scoring on a 1 yard pass. And, that's where normalcy ended.
Up next, was that 102 yard KR by Gray. UCF then drove down to the Liberty 4, and threw a pick for an 80 yard return. Liberty settles for the FG, to make the game 10-7. UCF's KJ Jefferson throws his 2nd INT on the last play of the quarter...which was a nice pilot episode for what was about to happen in episode 2.
49 points were scored in that 2nd quarter. And UCF may have made a change at QB for the rest of the season.
Liberty scored on a rushing TD by Quinton Cooley to go up 17-7. 30 seconds later, Jacurri Brown throws his first pass, which is volleballed and results in a INT. The next play, UCF's Jaylen Heyward picks off Kaidon Salter, and takes it back.
36 seconds later, Salter gets a 72 yard TD pass to Tyson Mobly.
8 seconds later another UCF INT (Brown's 2nd pass, also an INT...which got him benched).
8 seconds later another Liberty INT. Deshawn Pace was told if he couldn't get to the QB, to just jump to bat it. When he came down, he had the ball. Then took it to the house.
What's the score now? How the hell should I know.
Well, Liberty lets us catch our breath by going for a 3 and out.
Then the Dylan Rizk era at UCF begins with a 5 play (2 passes for 18 yards) scoring drive, capped by an RJ Harvey TD run.
With 1:14 to go, Julian Gray has a promising return, which ends 29 yards later.
4 seconds later, UCF's BJ Adams picks off another Salter pass (for 40 yards).
45 seconds to go: Dylan Rizk then gets his first UCF TD, a 14 yarder to Ja'Varrius Leon Johnson.
30 seconds to go: Satler passes to Darius Copland for 53 yards.
Rizk has some completions, then chucks up a hail mary that is intercepted by A'Khori Jones in the endzone.
Whew.
The 3rd quarter saw only a pick 6 for scoring (Amarian Williams on Dylan Rizk). Given it was a volleyball catch by a UCF WR, Rizk was kept in the game.
The rest of the drives ended in 4th down missed conversions or punts.
UCF then drives down to the Liberty 1, down 35-38, and decides to be safe and go for the FG to tie it, and see if pressure on Liberty to score after 4:12 could help.
Deshawn Pace then gets his 2nd INT the next play.
UCF drives from the Liberty 25 for a TD (45-38 UCF).
4 plays later, and Pace gets his 3rd INT.
UCF scores on another RJ Harvey run.
LIiberty attempts a comeback, but Mac McWilliams picks off Satler after a 9 play drive...and that was all she wrote.
Stay tuned for the next episode of Knights of our Lives.
The two teams threw for an incredible combined 13 INTs. After UCF got to their 4th INT in
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