Inside
Game Day
Thursday,
October 4, 2012
By Al Myatt |
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UCF's McDuffie turns momentum
Al Myatt
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
ORLANDO — As a tight spiral
from Shane Carden descended into the waiting hands of Justin Hardy as he ran
down the East sideline in the first quarter at Central Florida on Thursday
night the Pirates were looking good.
Two ECU possessions had produced a 14-0
lead with Carden completing a game-opening drive with a 7-yard touchdown
run. Then on the first play of the Pirates' second series, Carden's deep
ball to Hardy went for a 76-yard score.
"We were playing great, moving the ball
great," Carden said. "We were hitting them down field. We were running the
ball decently."
The ECU quarterback said it was a point of
emphasis to start fast. That mission was accomplished with a flourish.
But UCF's Quincy McDuffie had a pin for the
Pirates' early balloon.
His 99-yard kickoff for a TD in response to
the bomb from Carden to Hardy was a game changer. McDuffie broke out of
traffic and angled across the field to give the crowd of 32,181 something to
get off the metal bleachers about with 5:55 left in the first quarter.
"I thought we had some momentum early,"
said ECU coach Ruffin McNeill. "We got some special teams mishaps and we
lost momentum."
Coaches talk endlessly about responding to
adversities but the Pirates never got the wind back in their sails as they
slipped to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in Conference USA as UCF took a 40-20 win.
"We have to regain it back when that does
happen," McNeill said.
The Knights used a 32-yard punt return by
J.J. Worton to the ECU 40 as a springboard for the tying score. UCF pulled
even as Storm Johnson went four yards to the end zone early in the second
quarter.
The ECU defense forced UCF to settle for
field goals of 22, 23 and 36 yards from Shawn Moffitt for its next three
scores.
The Pirates had similar problems in the red
zone, which led to field goals of 27 and 31 yards by Warren Harvey. The
boots by Harvey got ECU within 20-17 at the half and 23-20 with 8:30 left in
the third quarter.
Then McDuffie left Pirates in his wake
again, taking a short pass from Blake Bortles down the left sideline for a
64-yard score.
The Knights pushed the final margin past
the betting line in the fourth quarter with a 70-yard drive completed by
Bortles' 1-yard keeper and a 49-yard field goal by Moffitt.
McNeill didn't feel like the game swung
exclusively on ECU's demise. He gave a lot of credit to UCF.
"We played a team that I think is going to
look very good when we see them on film," said the Pirates coach. "We think
we have a very good football team, too. We'll bounce back and we'll be ready
to go."
Inside linebacker Jeremy Grove led ECU with
four solo tackles and five assists for involvement in nine stops. He didn't
try to sugar coat the outcome.
"They beat us straight up," Grove said.
"They ran on us. They passed on us. ... A couple of big plays and they got
the momentum. It stayed with them the rest of the game."
The Knights had 436 total yards to 362 for
the Pirates. Carden completed 23 of 36 for 298 yards with one TD and one
interception. Bortles completed 15 of 21 for 269 yards with one score and no
picks. Bortles was also UCF's top rusher with six carries for 62 yards and a
TD.
The focus inevitably shifts to Memphis,
which will be ECU's homecoming opponent on Oct. 13.
The Pirate coaches will do some recruiting
before the team begins preparations for the Tigers on Sunday.
E-mail Al Myatt.
PAGE UPDATED
10/05/12 05:43 AM.
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