Oct. 31, 2015
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CINCINNATI, Ohio (UCFKnights.com) - UCF interim head coach Danny Barrett is a Cincinnati alumnus. He hadn't been back to Nippert Stadium in over 30 years. His return on this Halloween Saturday afternoon certainly wasn't a treat.
The Bearcats scored on three straight possessions to open the game, taking a 21-0 lead and blowing it open early. That led to a 52-7 victory for Cincinnati over the Knights in Barrett's first game as the head man.
Related: Final Stats
Two of Cincinnati's first three scores took less than a minute off the clock. All three came on touchdown passes from Gunner Kiel. The Bearcats racked up 203 yards of offense in the first 15 minutes of the game. Kiel finished the game 15-of-15 for 319 yards and five touchdowns.
"We talked about not giving up the big play and that's all it was, a game of big plays," Barrett said. "You look at the numbers on the board, almost 500 yards passing. How many of those were big plays? Four or five of those (were) the most damaging."
The Bearcats added two touchdowns in each of the second and third quarters. A Cincinnati field goal to open the fourth period made it 52-0.
"I told the guys we're better than what we're showing," Barrett added. "It's about hard work. It's about guys wanting to be out here and wanting to represent UCF the right way. It's about having some Knight pride. That's the bottom line and that's how you move forward."
The Knights finally got on the scoreboard with 12:23 remaining when C.J. Jones hit pay dirt from one yard out, accounting for the final score. Jones ripped off a 51-yard run earlier in the possession, which was the longest rush for the Knights since 2013 at Temple. Jones finished with 123 yards on the ground, most for a Knight runner since Nov. 1, 2014.
Cincinnati put up 726 yards of offense in the game, compared to 313 for UCF.
Story by Andy Seeley; Photos by Brad Helton