UCF Wins Big Over Akron, 38-7 In Season Opener
By Ron Lighthall // August 30, 2013
Knights open season with record-setting game
ABOVE VIDEO: The University of Central Florida Knights opened their 2013 season with this kickoff. The Knights defeated the Akron Zips 38-7 last night, and improved to 23-12 for season openers.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – On a night where UCF football program was honored with a trophy presentation for achieving the highest GPA as a team in last year’s Conference-USA, setting a new record high GPA for the conference, the Knights showed how smart and disciplined they are in the classroom and on the field.
With their 38-7 victory over non-conference opponent Akron Zips, the Knights improved to 23-12 for season openers.
C-USA now in the rearview mirror and the American Athletic Conference on the horizon, UCF opened the 2013 football season on a record-breaking high note.
The Knights offense came out ready to strike quickly, on the second play from scrimmage, quarterback Blake Bortles connected with wide receiver Breshad Perriman for a 91 yard touchdown pass.
This broke the previous team record for longest pass from scrimmage set back in 1987 when Darren Slack connected with Bernard Ford for an 87 yard touchdown strike.
UCF didn’t stop there. Bortles would go on to record two additional TD passes and end his night at 18 of 24 and no interceptions with a total of 314 yards.
The Knights offense went 4-4 in the redzone and Storm Johnson(20 carries for 99 yards) would add two more scores on the ground, capping an offense game total of 66 plays 476 yards for the night and only one penalty for 10 yards.
PENALTY FREE KNIGHTS
The Knights defense played penalty free and kept Akron off the scoreboard until their final possession of the night. With 3:26 remaining in the fourth Akron’s Imani Davis scored on a 11 yard pass play from Zips Quarterback Nick Hirschman.
UCF’s defense worked on pressuring the Zips offense recording 3.5 tackles for a loss. The Knights defense ended the night allowing only 116 total passing yards, the lowest for a non-conference game since 2011 against Boston College at 84.
The Knights also won the turnover battle 2-0 with one interception and a fumble recovery. After the game Knights Head Coach George O’Leary was pleased with his team’s offensive performance and alluded to more “exciting” things to come this season.
UCF TAKES ON FIU PANTHERS IN MIAMI FRIDAY
Next up, the Knights travel to Miami where they will take on the FIU Panthers for the third consecutive year. The UCF/FIU series is tied at 1-1 with UCF defeating the Panthers 33-20 last season. The Panthers open their season on the road this Saturday at Maryland.
VIDEO & IMAGES BY RHETT LIGHTHALL
