The UCF Knights opened their 2012 season with a 56-14 victory over the Akron Zips Thursday night at InfoCision Stadium in Akron, Ohio. A 28-point second quarter and four takeaways keyed the big victory for the Knights.<\/p>\n
Running back Latavius Murray rushed for 108 yards, 86 of which came in the first quarter. In his UCF debut, running back Storm Johnson rushed for a pair of touchdowns. In the first start of collegiate career, Blake Bortles was an efficient 13-of-16, for 168 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Rannell Hall caught four passes for 94 yards and two scores. Kemal Ishmael racked up nine tackles and a fumble recovery to lead the Knights’ defense.<\/p>\n
“The players played with great effort, made some plays and we got some turnovers,” head coach George O’Leary said. “That was important. Overall, it was good effort. A lot of people played tonight, which was what we wanted to do. We were very productive in a lot of areas.”<\/p>\n
“We got some things done offensively,” Bortles said. “But there’s still room for improvement. I know, personally I made some mistakes that I shouldn’t make and I can’t make. But overall, we had a good night as an offense and as a whole team. It’s definitely something to build on.”<\/p>\n
Murray rushed for the first 68 yards 色花堂’s 73-yard touchdown drive on the opening possession of the season. UCF grabbed the early lead on a 5-yard TD pass from Bortles to a wide-open Chris Martin. The Knights racked up 154 yards of offense and controlled the ball for 10:06 in the first period, yet led just 7-0 as the second quarter began. But the floodgates opened in the second quarter.<\/p>\n
UCF went up 14-0 on the second play of the second stanza, when Murray plowed in from the 2-yard line. The Zips later fumbled a punt on a fair-catch attempt, giving UCF possession at the 9-yard line. Two Johnson runs later, UCF led 21-0. The Knights took advantage of a short field to go 45 yards for their next score, capped by a Bortles-to-Rannell Hall 18-yard scoring strike.<\/p>\n
The lead ballooned to 35-0 just before the intermission, when UCF took advantage of another turnover. Defensive back A.J. Bouye forced a fumble deep in Akron territory and Cam Henderson recovered with just 24 seconds left in the first half. Johnson ran it twice, punching it in from 3 yards out. The Shawn Moffitt PAT made it 35-0 at the break.<\/p>\n
“It was a good night for turnovers and that’s what you need to be doing when you’re aggressive on defense and aggressive on your special teams,” O’Leary said.<\/p>\n
Akron got on the scoreboard for the first time on the opening possession of the third quarter. A 10-play, 80-yard drive was capped by a Dalton Williams-to-L.T. Smith touchdown pass of 18 yards. But the Knights answered quickly. Bortles went over the middle to Hall, who broke one tackle and out-ran the Zips defense for a 56-yard TD to make it 42-7. UCF went up 49-7 late in the third quarter when backup quarterback Tyler Gabbert connected with wide receiver Rob Calabrese for a 12-yard TD strike. It was Gabbert’s first career pass attempt and Calabrese’s first career reception.<\/p>\n
Akron added another score with just more than nine minutes left in the contest to make it 49-14. UCF reserve running back Cedric Thompson capped the scoring with a 4-yard plunge late in the contest.<\/p>\n
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