Military Bowl: Duke 30, Central Florida 13
(AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Riley Leonard ran for two touchdowns and threw for 173 yards, and Duke wrapped up an impressive first season under Mike Elko with a 30-13 victory over UCF in the Military Bowl.
The Blue Devils (9-4) have won four consecutive bowl games, although this was their first appearance in one since 2018. Jordan Moore ran for a touchdown in the first quarter, and then Duke took control in the second.
UCF (9-5) lost three of its final four games this season. John Rhys Plumlee managed only 28 yards passing in the first half and 182 for the game.
Moore opened the scoring with a 14-yard run, but Isaiah Bowser's 1-yard touchdown run for the Knights tied the game at 7. Duke outscored UCF 13-0 in the second quarter to take control.
After taking the lead on a short field goal, the Blue Devils recovered a fumble by Plumlee at their own 42. They went 58 yards in seven plays, and Leonard scored on 1-yard run.
A 48-yard field goal by Todd Pelino made it 20-7 at halftime.
Down 23-7, the Knights had a good chance to get back in the game after a profitable exchange of punts gave them the ball at the Duke 32, but UCF turned the ball over on downs.
The Knights finally scored again on 2-yard run by Bowser with 9:03 remaining, but a trick play on a 2-point conversion failed badly.
Leonard completed the scoring with a 3-yard run with 2:29 to play. He finished with a team-high 63 yards on the ground.
Duke went winless in Atlantic Coast Conference play last year, but Elko turned the team around quickly, winning ACC coach of the year honors. The Blue Devils reached nine wins in a season for the seventh time and first since 2014.
THE TAKEAWAY
Duke: An excellent ending to a very encouraging season. The defense in particular was strong against a good quarterback. The Blue Devils had six sacks.
UCF: Plumlee was limited by hamstring problems when the Knights lost to Tulane in the AAC title game. It wasn't clear if he was still feeling the effects Wednesday, but this was not a good performance by an offense that normally has little trouble moving the ball.
December 28, 2022
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
UCF | Duke |
| Duke |
TD |
7:47 |
Jaquez Moore 14 yard TD run (Todd Pelino Extra Point) |
0 |
7 |
| UCF |
TD |
2:10 |
Isaiah Bowser 1 yard TD run (Colton Boomer Extra Point) |
7 |
7 |
| Second Quarter |
UCF | Duke |
| Duke |
FG |
6:28 |
Todd Pelino 22 yard field goal |
7 |
10 |
| Duke |
TD |
1:54 |
Riley Leonard 1 yard TD run (Todd Pelino Extra Point) |
7 |
17 |
| Duke |
FG |
0:00 |
Todd Pelino 48 yard field goal |
7 |
20 |
| Third Quarter |
UCF | Duke |
| Duke |
FG |
8:02 |
Todd Pelino 38 yard field goal |
7 |
23 |
| Fourth Quarter |
UCF | Duke |
| UCF |
TD |
9:03 |
Isaiah Bowser 2 yard TD run (Isaiah Bowser 2pt conversion attempt is NO GOOD) |
13 |
23 |
| Duke |
TD |
2:29 |
Riley Leonard 3 yard TD run (Todd Pelino Extra Point) |
13 |
30 |
| Team Stats |
| |
UCF |
Duke |
| First downs |
22 |
22 |
| Rushing |
11 |
11 |
| Passing |
11 |
10 |
| Penalty |
0 |
1 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
5-14, 36% |
7-14, 50% |
| 4th down efficiency |
2-4, 50% |
0-0, -% |
| Rushes-Yards |
36-128 |
40-177 |
| Passing Yards |
198 |
173 |
| Return Yards |
41 |
22 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
22-35-1 |
19-29-0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
6-45 |
0-0 |
| Punts |
4 |
4 |
| Fumbles Lost |
3-1 |
0-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
2-22 |
1-5 |
| UCF Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| J. Plumlee |
21 |
34 |
182 |
0 |
1 |
| R. Harvey |
1 |
1 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
| Duke Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| R. Leonard |
19 |
28 |
173 |
0 |
0 |
| UCF Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| I. Bowser |
11 |
39 |
3.5 |
2 |
| J. Richardson |
3 |
30 |
10.0 |
0 |
| R. Harvey |
6 |
29 |
4.8 |
0 |
| J. Plumlee |
14 |
21 |
1.5 |
0 |
| X. Townsend |
2 |
9 |
4.5 |
0 |
| Duke Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| R. Leonard |
10 |
63 |
6.3 |
2 |
| J. Coleman |
7 |
53 |
7.6 |
0 |
| J. Moore |
12 |
43 |
3.6 |
1 |
| T. Moore |
6 |
16 |
2.7 |
0 |
| J. Waters |
3 |
5 |
1.7 |
0 |
| UCF Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| K. Hudson |
5 |
63 |
12.6 |
0 |
| J. Baker |
2 |
49 |
24.5 |
0 |
| X. Townsend |
7 |
25 |
3.6 |
0 |
| R. Harvey |
3 |
25 |
8.3 |
0 |
| A. Holler |
2 |
18 |
9.0 |
0 |
| J. Plumlee |
1 |
16 |
16.0 |
0 |
| J. Richardson |
2 |
2 |
1.0 |
0 |
| Duke Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Calhoun |
6 |
62 |
10.3 |
0 |
| S. Hagans |
4 |
32 |
8.0 |
0 |
| J. Moore |
1 |
32 |
32.0 |
0 |
| J. Moore |
3 |
13 |
4.3 |
0 |
| E. Pancol |
2 |
12 |
6.0 |
0 |
| C. Finney |
1 |
12 |
12.0 |
0 |
| T. Moore |
1 |
8 |
8.0 |
0 |
| J. Coleman |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
0 |
| UCF Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Duke Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| C. Rivers |
1 |
0 |
| UCF Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| M. McCarthy |
4 |
189 |
47.3 |
| Duke Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| P. Wilson |
4 |
176 |
44.0 |
| UCF Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| Duke Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| UCF Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Richardson |
2 |
21 |
10.5 |
| R. Harvey |
1 |
20 |
20.0 |
| Duke Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| T. Moore |
1 |
22 |
22.0 |
| UCF Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| Duke Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
