Sept. 26, 2015
South Carolina - Images by UCF Knights
COLUMBIA, S.C. (UCFKnights.com) -- South Carolina scored 20 points in less than six minutes during the third quarter en route to a 31-14 victory over UCF at Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday afternoon.
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The Knights held a 14-8 lead to begin the second half. But a South Carolina trick play gone bad, quickly turned good for the Gamecocks. It completely turned momentum, too. Wide receiver Pharoh Williams took a backward pass and was looking to throw. UCF had it covered, but Williams scrambled, reversed field, broke a handful of tackles and weaved his way to the end zone for a 29-yard TD to put the Gamecocks on top, 15-14.
A pair of interceptions on back-to-back UCF possessions then led to South Carolina scores. Gamecock QB Lorenzo Nunez hit Jacob August with a 13-yard touchdown pass to make it, 22-14. Nunez then found Williams for a 35-yard strike, 28-14.
"You can't turn it over, have missed tackles," UCF head coach George O'Leary said. "Those are the things that will cost you the ballgame. The real difference was field position in the second half because of turnovers. We've just got to improve in areas that are constantly showing up in each game."
Nick Patti put the Knights on top 7-5 on a one-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Cooper muffed a punt at the 4-yard line. T.J. Mutcherson recovered at the 1-yard line. Patti took it in on the very next play. The UCF defense got the ball back and freshman quarterback Bo Schneider went to work.
Schneider was 5-of-5 passing for 79 yards on the ensuing drive, which culminated with a 30-yard touchdown pass to freshman Tre'Quan Smith. That scoring strike gave UCF a 14-5 lead with five minutes left in the first half. South Carolina tacked on a field goal to account for the halftime score.
"We got some stuff going early," Patti said. "We had a little juice. We opened it up and pushed it down the field. We were really positive (at halftime). Having a lead at halftime is big. We wanted to carry that over. I thought we came out a little flat in the second half. I thought our sense of urgency was better (early), but we've got to continue to grow."
The Gamecocks' Elliott Fry booted a 52-yard field goal on the first possession of the game. A South Carolina safety made it 5-0 early in the second quarter, before the Knights scored 14 straight.
Young Turks
- Schneider's second-quarter touchdown pass went to Smith, a red-shirt freshman. Two freshmen and two sophomores caught passes on that drive.
- For the day, UCF had seven wide receivers with receptions. Three of them were freshmen (Smith, Tristan Payton, D'erren Wilson) and two were sophomores (Chris Johnson, Jordan Franks).
- The aforementioned five underclassmen accounted for 166 of UCF's 204 receiving yards.
- Schneider, a true freshman, tossed the first touchdown pass of his career, which gave UCF a 14-5 lead in the second quarter.
-Schneider finished 20-of-35 for 189 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Punting
- Caleb Houston had another solid day punting the football, averaging 45.6 yards per punt.
- Houston's punt that was muffed inside the 5-yard line and led to UCF's first TD. It was his 133th punt inside the 20 this year.
- That punt was also a game-best 53-yarder and it was his fourth consecutive game with at least one 50-yarder.
Solid Spencer
- Domenic Spencer led the team in tackles for the second straight game, recording eight total stops.
- Spencer tacked on 1.5 tackles for loss.
Up next
-UCF heads to Tulane to open American Athletic Conference play at noon on ESPNews.
-The Knights are back at Bright House Networks Stadium on Oct. 10 with the time to be determined.
Story by Andy Seeley. Photo by Brad Helton