Oct. 29, 2005
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Junior Steven Moffett threw a pair of fourth quarter touchdown passes to junior Mike Walker as visiting UCF held on for a 30-20 Conference USA victory on Saturday afternoon at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The Golden Knights (5-3, 4-1) recorded their first road victory as a member of C-USA.
With 9:12 left in the game and UCF trailing, 20-17, Moffett hit a sprinting Walker for a 38-yard scoring strike. Just over five minutes later, the duo secured the victory with Walker beating a pair of defenders to haul in a 31-yard touchdown reception.
The Pirates (3-5, 2-3) threatened twice with under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but UCF forced a pair of turnovers with junior Ronnell Sandy recovering a fumble and freshman Joe Burnett recording an interception.
UCF dominated the first half, but the Pirates rallied in the third quarter and narrowed the Golden Knights' advantage to 17-10 with 5:03 on the clock on a 26-yard touchdown run by Brandon Fractious. With nine second left in the quarter, Robert Lee nailed a 28-yard field goal and UCF led by four entering the fourth.
Fractious found the end zone with 12:14 left in the contest with a seven-yard touchdown scamper and East Carolina had its first lead of the game, 20-17.
Moffett completed 10-of-25 pass attempts for 181 yards with the two scores.
UCF appeared to pull away in the second quarter. Following an interception from senior Paul Carrington, senior Matt Prater nailed a 26-yard field goal to put the Golden Knights up by 10. The hosts finally got on the board with 7:44 left in the half with a 33-yard field goal from Lee.
On the Golden Knights next possession, junior Jason Peters took a handoff from Moffett and ran up the middle untouched for a 67-yard score, the fifth longest run from scrimmage in school history. UCF amassed 265 yards of total offense in the first half and led 17-3 at the intermission.
Peters finished with 113 yards for his second consecutive 100-yard rushing performance. UCF posted 249 yards on the ground and had 430 total yards for the game.
The Golden Knights capitalized on an East Carolina special teams error to get on the board first. Following a punt by junior Aaron Horne, sophomore Curtis Francis recovered a Travis Williams fumble on the East Carolina one-yard line. Two plays later, Peters found the end zone on a short rush and UCF led, 7-0, with 5:37 to play in the opening quarter.
UCF forced four Pirate turnovers in the game's first 30 minutes.
Walker totaled 110 yards on seven catches. Senior Brandon Marshall caught three passes for 71 yards.
UCF returns to action next Saturday for Homecoming, hosting Houston at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Kickoff is set for 6:15 p.m.