Sept. 13, 2015
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Stanford - Images by UCF Knights
STANFORD, Calif. (UCFKnights.com) - UCF fell 31-7 at Stanford Saturday night at Stanford Stadium.
Justin Holman, the Knights' starting quarterback, left the game with an injury after one series, leaving a pair of freshman signal-callers -- Bo Schneider and Tyler Harris -- at the helm of the offense. UCF (0-2) managed just 181 yards in the contest, while Stanford (1-1) tallied 491 yards.
"We hung in there in the first half," UCF head coach George O'Leary said. "We put the defense out there too often. There were so many poor plays on the defense's part in the second half. I don't know what yardage they had, but half of it had to be on missed tackles. That's what's disappointing more than anything else."
The UCF defense stood tall through the first 25 minutes. After a scoreless first quarter, Stanford finally had to resort to a trick play to get on the scoreboard late in the first half. Kevin Hogan hit Michael Rector on a flea-flicker, putting the Cardinal on top 7-0 with 4:23 remaining in the first half.
Conrad Ukropina added to the Stanford lead, hitting a 52-yard field goal with less than a minute left in the half. The Cardinal took a 10-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Stanford increased its lead to 17-0 late in the third quarter. The Cardinal went 80 yards in eight plays before Hogan hit Christian McCaffrey with a seven-yard touchdown pass. Stanford tacked on a pair of fourth-quarter scores, including a 93-yard screen pass from Hogan to Bobby Okereke.
Harris and Tre'Quan Smith accounted for the Knights' lone score late in the contest, hooking up on a 36-yard touchdown pass.
Youth Gone Wild
- When Bo Schneider entered the ballgame in the first quarter, the Knights had a true freshman at both quarterback and running back (Taj McGowan).
- At that point, eight of the 11 on the field for the UCF offense were underclassmen (five freshmen and three sophomores).
- Of the 48 Knights who played in the first half, 23 were underclassmen (13 freshmen, 10 sophomores).
- Both freshman quarterbacks saw action for UCF. Schneider played the first three quarters after Holman's injury. Harris came on midway through the fourth quarter.
One Streak Snapped, One Sustained
- Holman's injury ended his streak of 14 straight games with a passing touchdown.
- The Knights' streak of games with a passing touchdown continued, however. Harris' fourth-quarter scoring strike to Tre'Quan Smith made it 16 consecutive.
- The last time UCF didn't pass for a touchdown was in a 17-13 win at SMU to end the 2013 regular season.
D Is for Drico and Domenic
- With the defense on the field for 35:35, Knights defenders had plenty of opportunities for tackles.
- Defensive back Drico Johnson matched his career-best with eight stops. Two of his tackles were behind the line of scrimmage, the first tackles-for-loss of his career.
- Linebacker Domenic Spencer also tallied a career-best seven tackles, with 1.5 going for a loss of yards.
Story by Andy Seeley; Video by Chip Fontanazza; Photos by Brad Helton, Ron Fried