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ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) - The 2015 football season came to an end Thursday night at Bright House Networks Stadium. The Knights finished out the season with a 44-3 loss to USF.
Much like last week, things looked promising early for UCF. The Knights grabbed a 3-0 lead, opening the contest with a nine-play, 61-yard drive that culminated in a 28-yard Matthew Wright field goal. But USF owned the remainder of the contest, scoring 44 unanswered.
It was the final game as a Knight for UCF's seniors.
Obviously we are disappointed in the results, especially for tonight, for the seniors, interim head coach Danny Barrett said. I told them in the locker room that I am disappointed that we could not send those guys out with one final win.
The Bulls answered UCF's opening-drive field goal with a touchdown. A four-yard pass from Quinton Flowers to Chris Barr gave USF a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Early in the second quarter Flowers found Sean Price with a one-yard TD pass. Flowers ran it in himself with 4:42 remaining in the first half to make it 21-3. The Bulls tacked on a 44-yard field goal at the gun to end the first two periods with a 24-3 lead.
Flowers ran for another score in the third quarter, before throwing for a 26-yard TD to Price. Emilio Nadelman hit a pair of fourth-quarter field goals to account for the final tally.
USF tallied 455 yards of offense, compared to 203 for the Knights. Marlon Mack led the Bulls with 102 yards rushing. UCF was paced by freshman Tre'Quan Smith, who hauled in seven catches for 102 yards. It was Smith's second 100-yard receiving game in the last three weeks.
Smith also turned in a highlight-reel reception for a second time in three weeks, after making the ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 plays list for an amazing catch at Tulsa. During the second quarter, Smith split a pair of USF defenders, caught the ball in mid-air and took a solid shot in the hip from Nate Godwin of the Bulls. That hit flipped Smith in mid-air. He had the presence of mind to secure the ball to his chest with his right arm, while trying to break his fall with his left. Smith flipped completely over in mid-air and held on for the great catch.