Oct. 2, 2005
LAFAYETTE, La. - UCF senior place-kicker John Brown kicked a 28-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in the game to lift the Golden Knights to a 24-21 victory at Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday evening. UCF snapped the nation's longest road losing streak of 15 games, winning for the first time on the road since a 48-31 victory at Miami of Ohio on November 23, 2002.
The Golden Knights evened their record at 2-2 on the season. It marked just the third time in Division I-A history for the Golden Knights they have a .500 record or better after four games to start a season.
The last-second victory was the first for UCF since Javier Beorlegui kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired at Alabama in 2000.
UCF's offense scored first for the second straight week as junior quarterback Steven Moffett executed a perfect hitch-and-go route to Brandon Marshall for a 60-yard touchdown. The Golden Knights used just three plays to cover 71 yards for an early 7-0 advantage.
For the game, Marshall had five catches for 107 yards.
The Golden Knights continued to click offensively on their second drive of the game as they drove 55 yards in eight plays, capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Moffett to Dontavius Wilcox.
On UCF's first two drives of the game, Moffett was 5-for-5 passing for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
Moffett's sensational start continued in the second quarter as UCF's marched 92 yards for its third touchdown in as many drives. The 92-yard drive - UCF's longest scoring drive of the season - ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Moffett to Marshall to make the score 21-0 UCF.
Moffett was 10-of-10 passing for 182 yards and three touchdowns on UCF's first three possessions. The 10 straight completions tied a career-high for Moffett and place him in a tie for sixth in UCF single-game history for consecutive completions.
The Ragin' Cajuns finally got on the scoreboard on their next drive as Abdule Levier scored on a one-yard plunge to cut the deficit to 21-7.
Moffett finished the game completing 15-of-25 attempts for 232 yards with three scores. On the ground, freshman tailback Kevin Smith carried the ball 25 times for 110 yards. He is the first true freshman tailback to rush for 100 yards in a game since Gerod Davis rushed for 120 yards versus Samford on November 21, 1992.
After Louisiana-Lafayette blocked a UCF punt inside the Golden Knights' 30-yard line, the Ragin' Cajuns drive was stopped by senior linebacker James Cook's first career interception to end the scoring threat at the UCF one-yard line.
Moffett was 11-of-13 passing for 196 yards and three touchdowns in the first half as UCF led 21-7 at the break.
After a missed field goal attempt of 36 yards by Matt Prater, Louisiana-Lafayette drove 80 yards on 11 plays, capped off by a six-yard touchdown run by Jerrell Carter to bring the Cajuns to within seven at 21-14 with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter.
On UCF's ensuing possession, ULL forced a Moffett fumble inside the UCF 10-yard line and recovered the ball on the Golden Knight seven-yard line. On the next play, Levier scampered seven yards to tie the game at 21.
After the hosts turned the ball over on downs late in the fourth quarter, UCF mounted a four minute, 51-yard drive that led to Brown's field goal. Smith carried the ball eight times on the drive, accounting for 33 yards to set-up Brown's kick.
Freshman safety Jason Venson totaled a team-high 12 tackles for UCF. He added two pass breakups. Freshman cornerback Joe Burnett added seven stops.
UCF returns home next Saturday to host Memphis for a Conference USA contest. Kickoff at the Florida Citrus Bowl is slated for 6 p.m.