New Hampshire Wildcats at UCF Knights

UCF runs to 57-3 season-opening win over New Hampshire

Senior captain RJ Harvey led the Knights’ backfield, rushing for 111 of his 142 yards in the first half and scoring two touchdowns for UCF.

The Knights rushed for 300 yards as a team for the first time since last year’s season opener against Kent State. The team went for 389 yards in that game. They also were seven yards shy of setting the school record set against Gardner-Webb in September 1992.

It was a major statement for the Knights and their stellar backfield. “We’re hungry,” running back Myles Montgomery said. “We all have a why that we’re playing for. We make sure that we never forget that. We have a chip on our shoulder. Hopefully there is more to come.” UCF is the only team with two 1,000-yard rushers on the roster from last year. Harvey is one of those and set himself up to eclipse that mark again with his strong debut. The other is Toledo transfer Peny Boone who had 81 yards on seven carries, including a 59-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

But they were not alone. Montgomery (77 yards on eight carries and a touchdown) along with quarterback KJ Jefferson (39 yards on 11 carries with a rushing touchdown) further boosted the run game as the Knights dominated up front and wore down the Wildcats, scoring 23 points in the second quarter and 28 in the third. “They’re real running backs. They are all a bit different,” UCF coach Gus Malzahn said. “First game is first game. We’re pretty vanilla. Sometimes when you are vanilla it is what it is, but we have a lot of things to build upon.” That left little need for a passing game. But Jefferson still fired two touchdown passes, both to running backs finding Montgomery for a 38-yard score and Johnny Richardson for 22-yarder. Jefferson finished with 164 yards on 7-for-14 passing.

New Hampshire fell behind in the middle quarters and was not able to take advantage of UCF’s struggles early in the game. UCF held New Hampshire to 162 total yards, giving up only a second-quarter field goal. That marked the Wildcats’ only drive to pass midfield. “That’s a really talented football team that we went against,” New Hampshire coach Ricky Santos said. “Both sides up front, that was the determining factor. Physically imposing defensive line that gave us a lot of issues. I think they did a really good job wearing us out, particularly going into the second half.” Seth Morgan threw for 95 yards on 14-for-28 passing for the Wildcats. New Hampshire rushed for 67 yards. The Knights picked off Morgan twice and blocked a punt to set up three scores. UCF also tallied seven tackles for a loss in the game. TRANSFERRED CREDITS UCF was relying on a lot of transfers to bolster their defensive depth after struggling in their first year in the Big 12. A few of them paid immediate dividends.

Cincinnati transfer Deshawn Pace intercepted a pass to open the second quarter and returned it to the 3-yard line to set up the Knights’ first touchdown.

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