PREVIEW: UCF Knights Host Louisville Cardinals Friday Night on ESPN2
By Space Coast Daily // September 8, 2022
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA (UCF Knights) – After opening the season with a dominant 56-10 win against South Carolina State, the UCF football team (1-0) will host Louisville (0-1) under the lights Friday night at FBC Mortgage Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
Louisville is in its fourth season under head coach Scott Satterfield, who has led the Cardinals to a pair of bowl game appearances. Last season, the Cards were 6-7 overall and 4-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Louisville dropped a 31-28 battle against Air Force in the ServPro First Responder Bowl.
Quarterback Malik Cunningham leads the offense, as he ranks third in the Cardinals record books with 10,801 passing yards. His streak of 30 consecutive games with at least one rushing or passing touchdown came to an end in Saturday’s 31-7 loss at Syracuse.
UCF and Louisville have met three times in the history of the programs, most recently in 2021 when the Knights dropped a hard-fought 42-35 battle against the Cardinals in Louisville. In the last meeting, UCF knotted the score at 35-35 following a 6-yard touchdown run from quarterback Dillon Gabriel with 1:21 remaining but a Louisville interception returned for a touchdown gave the Cardinals a 42-35 lead, which was the final margin.
Friday’s game will be Louiville’s first trip to FBC Mortgage Stadium in what will be the fourth all-time meeting between the programs.
QUITE THE DEBUT FOR PLUMLEE
Making his debut in a UCF uniform, quarterback John Rhys Plumlee wowed Knights fans with a stellar performance as he finished the night 20-of-31 passing for 308 yards and four touchdowns. He was also a factor with his legs, accounting for 100 yards rushing on 16 attempts with another score to account for five of UCF’s seven touchdowns in the season-opening 56-10 win against South Carolina State.
Playing quarterback for the first time since 2020, Plumlee quickly acclimated to the position and led a Knights offense that piled up 605 total yards, the most by an AAC team in week one or week 0. UCF is one of just eight teams nationally to compile 600 or more yards of total offense in a game this season.
It was Plumlee’s first game with both a rushing and passing touchdown in his career. Additionally, he tallied career highs in pass attempts (31), completions (20), passing yard (308) and passing touchdowns (4).
