No. 9 UCF Knights Win 20th Straight Game, Beat East Carolina 37-10

By  //  October 21, 2018

QB McKenzie Milton did not play due to injury

ABOVE VIDEO: Highlights from UCF’s win over East Carolina 37-10.

GREENVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA (UCF Knights) – The No. 9/10 Knights didn’t have their starting quarterback. But they had a little bit of everything else in a 37-10 UCF victory over ECU Saturday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

UCF got touchdowns on a trick play, a run by quarterback Darriel Mack and a defensive score. The Knights’ opportunistic defense, bent but didn’t break and forced five turnovers.

The biggest play of the game may have come with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. UCF was clinging to a 23-10 lead. ECU was inside the Knights’ 5-yard line. On 3rd-and-goal from the UCF 2-yard line, Kyle Gibson blitzed and knocked the ball out of quarterback Holton Ahlers’ hand. Nate Evans scooped it up and went back 94 yards for a score to put the game out of reach.

“I saw my teammate Kyle Gibson get to the quarterback and the ball came out,” Evans said. “We practice turnover drills and scoop-and-score all the time. I just kept running, even though I’m slow. I just wanted to get to the end zone.”

Mack started the game for McKenzie Milton, who missed his first start since the last time UCF played at ECU on Oct. 1, 2016. Mack finished with a career-best 120 rushing yards, including a touchdown. He was 12-of-20 passing for 69 yards. (UCF Knights Image)

Mack started the game for McKenzie Milton, who missed his first start since the last time UCF played at ECU on Oct. 1, 2016. Mack finished with a career-best 120 rushing yards, including a touchdown. He was 12-of-20 passing for 69 yards.

“Darriel did a fantastic job,” UCF head coach Josh Heupel said.

“Managed the game well. Took care of the football the entire night. (He) didn’t really have huge passing numbers as far as yards but was really efficient. I thought he was a great decision-maker. Ran really physical, great pad level, good decision making. I’m really proud of the way he played.”

Mack’s most important pass didn’t go in the stat sheet. With UCF leading 6-3 in the second quarter, the Knights snuck true freshman quarterback Quadry Jones into the game as a wide receiver. Mack’s backward pass to Jones allowed him to throw the ball. He found a streaking Adrian Killins for the Knights’ first touchdown of the game.

In addition to Mack’s 120-yard rushing game, running back Greg McCrae finished with 99 yards on five carries, including a 74-yard TD jaunt late in the game to put it away. Defensively, the Knights were paced by Gibson, who tallied 12 tackles and had the huge fourth-quarter forced fumble. Evans tallied 10 tackles and a sack to go with his fumble return for a score.

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