East Carolina 34, Central Florida 13
Associated Press
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Holton Ahlers ran for a score and threw a touchdown pass in the second quarter as East Carolina jumped out to a big lead and cruised to a 34-13 victory over UCF.
Freshman Andrew Conrad's 28-yard first-quarter field goal and Ahlers' 3-yard touchdown run gave East Carolina (5-3, 3-2 American Athletic Conference) a 10-0 lead midway through the second period.
Ahlers connected with C.J. Johnson for a 39-yard touchdown and a 17-0 advantage before freshman Colton Boomer kicked a 27-yard field goal on the final play of the half to get UCF (5-2, 2-1) on the scoreboard.
The Knights pulled within 17-10 on their first possession of the second half when Isaiah Bowser scored on a 3-yard run at the end of a 10-play, 74-yard drive. But Keaton Mitchell answered with a 6-yard touchdown run, Conrad added a fourth-quarter field goal and Mitchell capped the scoring with a 37-yard run to preserve the win for the Pirates.
Ahlers completed 30 of 36 passes for 311 yards for East Carolina. Johnson hauled in 11 passes for 140 yards. Mitchell finished with 105 yards on 16 carries.
John Rhys Plumlee totaled 296 yards on 25-of-37 passing with three interceptions for UCF.
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
UCF | ECU |
| ECU |
FG |
2:00 |
Andrew Conrad 28 yd FG |
0 |
3 |
| Second Quarter |
UCF | ECU |
| ECU |
TD |
7:46 |
Holton Ahlers 3 yd run (Andrew Conrad kick) |
0 |
10 |
| ECU |
TD |
0:49 |
C.J. Johnson 39 yd pass from Holton Ahlers (Andrew Conrad kick) |
0 |
17 |
| UCF |
FG |
0:00 |
Colton Boomer 27 yd FG |
3 |
17 |
| Third Quarter |
UCF | ECU |
| UCF |
TD |
10:28 |
Isaiah Bowser 3 yd run (Colton Boomer kick) |
10 |
17 |
| ECU |
TD |
6:23 |
Keaton Mitchell 6 yd run (Andrew Conrad kick) |
10 |
24 |
| Fourth Quarter |
UCF | ECU |
| ECU |
FG |
12:51 |
Andrew Conrad 26 yd FG |
10 |
27 |
| UCF |
FG |
3:36 |
Colton Boomer 36 yd FG |
13 |
27 |
| ECU |
TD |
3:21 |
Keaton Mitchell 37 yd run (Andrew Conrad kick) |
13 |
34 |
| Team Stats |
| |
UCF |
East Carolina |
| First downs |
23 |
24 |
| Rushing |
9 |
10 |
| Passing |
14 |
12 |
| Penalty |
0 |
2 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
6-12, 50% |
9-14, 64% |
| 4th down efficiency |
2-3, 67% |
1-1, 100% |
| Rushes-Yards |
32-130 |
33-147 |
| Passing Yards |
296 |
311 |
| Return Yards |
95 |
18 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
25-37-3 |
30-36-0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
4--27 |
1--7 |
| Punts |
2 |
1 |
| Punts-Average |
43 |
41 |
| Fumbles Lost |
1-1 |
1-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
3-28 |
3-20 |
| Time of Possession |
24:49 |
35:11 |
| UCF Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| J. Plumlee |
25 |
37 |
296 |
0 |
3 |
| East Carolina Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| H. Ahlers |
30 |
36 |
311 |
1 |
0 |
| UCF Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| I. Bowser |
11 |
63 |
5.7 |
1 |
| J. Plumlee |
14 |
38 |
2.7 |
0 |
| R. Harvey |
6 |
32 |
5.3 |
0 |
| J. Richardson |
1 |
-3 |
-3.0 |
0 |
| East Carolina Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| K. Mitchell |
16 |
105 |
6.6 |
2 |
| M. Gunn Jr. |
11 |
36 |
3.3 |
0 |
| H. Ahlers |
5 |
6 |
1.2 |
1 |
| UCF Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| K. Hudson |
5 |
85 |
17.0 |
0 |
| R. Harvey |
7 |
77 |
11.0 |
0 |
| A. Holler |
3 |
56 |
18.7 |
0 |
| R. O'Keefe |
4 |
28 |
7.0 |
0 |
| I. Bowser |
2 |
15 |
7.5 |
0 |
| X. Townsend |
1 |
11 |
11.0 |
0 |
| J. Baker |
1 |
8 |
8.0 |
0 |
| S. Martin |
1 |
8 |
8.0 |
0 |
| J. Richardson |
1 |
8 |
8.0 |
0 |
| East Carolina Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| C. Johnson |
11 |
140 |
12.7 |
1 |
| I. Winstead |
7 |
89 |
12.7 |
0 |
| R. Jones |
4 |
40 |
10.0 |
0 |
| T. Savage |
1 |
24 |
24.0 |
0 |
| K. Mitchell |
3 |
9 |
3.0 |
0 |
| J. Hatfield |
2 |
8 |
4.0 |
0 |
| M. Gunn Jr. |
2 |
1 |
.5 |
0 |
| UCF Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| East Carolina Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| G. Stringer |
1 |
10 |
| M. Fleming |
1 |
4 |
| J. Wilson |
1 |
3 |
| UCF Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| M. McCarthy |
2 |
86 |
43.0 |
| East Carolina Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| L. Larsen |
1 |
41 |
41.0 |
| UCF Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| East Carolina Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| M. Fleming |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
| UCF Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| R. O'Keefe |
4 |
68 |
17.0 |
| I. Bowser |
2 |
27 |
13.5 |
| East Carolina Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| R. Jones |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| UCF Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| East Carolina Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| A. Conrad |
25 |
