Oct. 27, 2004
OXFORD, Ohio - Miami quarterback Josh Betts was 24-of-40 passing for 280 yards and a touchdown as Miami defeated UCF 43-7 Saturday night on Homecoming at Yager Stadium in Oxford, Ohio. The RedHawks improved to 5-3 overall and 4-1 in the MAC with the victory while UCF fell to 0-7, 0-4 in the MAC.
Both teams played a scoreless first quarter. Miami held a 64-59 advantage in total yards including a 4-3 lead in first downs in the opening stanza.
Miami broke the ice with a 36-yard field goal by Jared Parseghian with 12:08 remaining in the second quarter. The RedHawks drove 66 yards in nine plays for the first points of the contest.
Miami extended its advantage to 10-0 with 4:35 remaining before halftime when Luke Clemens scored on a one-yard touchdown run.
UCF had two chances to stop Miami's final drive of the first half, but a penalty negated an interception by Renford Parkes and Ty Kalandyk failed to recover a fumble at the UCF 33-yard line by a Miami receiver. The RedHawks took advantage of both mistakes and converted the drive into an eight-yard touchdown by Clemens.
The second touchdown of the game for Clemens gave Miami a 17-0 advantage at the break.
The RedHawks added a 33-yard field goal on their first drive of the second half to extend the lead to 20-0 with 10:50 remaining in the third quarter.
The Golden Knights capitalized on one of the first breaks of the night in the third quarter when Curtis Francis forced a fumble by Miami punt returner Ryne Robinson. Brooks Turner recovered the fumble and set up UCF first and 10 on the UCF 35.
From there, the Golden Knights finally got the offense into gear as Steven Moffett scored on a 31-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 20-7. Moffett also had a 28-yard completion on the drive to Tavaris Capers as UCF marched 65 yards on four plays on the scoring drive.
On Miami's next drive, redshirt freshman Renford Parkes recorded his first career interception and returned the ball to the Miami 17-yard line. UCF could not take advantage of the turnover as the offense went three plays and out and Matt Prater missed a 36-yard field goal wide left with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, junior free safety Brandon Marshall tallied his first career interception inside the UCF five-yard line. Just two plays later, Moffett was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, giving Miami two points on a safety to pad the lead to 22-7 with 12:13 left in the game.
Miami iced the game on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Josh Betts to Robinson. The scoring strike made the score 29-7 with 9:27 remaining in the game.
The RedHawks added two late touchdowns to close out the scoring at 43-7.
Up next for the Golden Knights is a visit to Marshall next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. with live television coverage on Sunshine Network.