It took a while for its offense to get rolling, but at the end of the day –as expected — the UCF Knights dominated in all three phases of the game routing New Hampshire, 57-3, in the season opener for both teams before 44,206 fans at FBC Mortgage Stadium.
UCF moved the ball on the ground effectively in its first two drives, but quarterback KJ Jefferson missed on his first four pass attempts and the Knights had to settle for a 6-0 lead after one quarter on a pair of Colton Boomer field goals.
The defense would then set up the next nine points for the Knights. Deshawn Pace picked off New Hampshire quarterback Seth Morgan and returned it 37 yards to the Wildcat 3, where Jefferson ran it in on the next play for UCF’s first touchdown of the season. On New Hampshire’s ensuing possession, Ladrius Tennyson would block a Sean Lahane punt that ended in Tim Bonagura being tackled in the end zone for a safety and a 15-0 lead. UCF needed just two plays on its next possession to extend the lead to 22-0. After a New Hampshire punt, RJ Harvey broke a 60-yard run to the UCF 1 and then ran it over on the next play from wildcat formation for the score. “We struggled moving the ball early in the game,” UCF Head Coach Gus Malzahn said. “I thought Pace’s interception was really a big play because from that point forward we settled down and started executing on offense,”
New Hampshire would finally get on the board late in the second quarter on Nick Mazzie’s 38-yard field goal. The drive was aided on a 22-yard pass from Morgan to Logan Tomlison and a 15-yard face mask penalty on the Knights. UCF ran its two-minute offense to perfection to take a 29-3 lead into the locker room at halftime. Taking over on its own 20 with just 1:32 remaining, Jefferson used his legs and arm to move the Knights 80-yards on just three plays. He sandwiched scrambles of eight and 13 yards around a 46-yard completion to Kobe Hudson to set up a 13-yard scoring run by Harvey.
A 28-point third quarter for UCF turned the game into a total rout.
After throwing an interception on their first possession of the quarter, the Knights put together a sustained touchdown drive on its second possession as Jefferson drove the Knights 88 yards on five plays. Myles Montgomery capped the drive by snagging a pass from Jefferson, who ran past defenders for a 49-yard touchdown and a 36-3 lead.
By UCF’s next possession, it became apparent that the under-manned Wildcat defense was gassed. With UCF taking over on its own 30, the Wildcats defense offered little resistance as Knights running back Peny Boone carried the ball three consecutive times — covering 6, 5, and 59 yards — to give the UCF a 43-3 lead. It was more of the same on the next drive as Harvey (24 yards) and Townsend (16 yards) ripped off big runs before Jefferson connected with Johnny Richardson on a 22-yard scoring strike. Boomer’s extra point made it 50-3. After an interception, Montgomery added his second touchdown of the game and UCF’s fourth of the quarter — this time on a 25-yard run,
“Obviously we have some really good running backs. I think we went over 400 yards rushing tonight and they really took over the game in the third quarter,” Malzahn added. “Even though our offensive game plan was pretty vanilla, all of them did good things tonight. RJ is the unquestioned leader back there, Peny is a full-blown man and Montgomery ran the ball extremely well too. I think you will see us do things in the future where we will have more than guy in the game at the same time.”
Reserves took over for UCF at the start of the fourth quarter. Back-up quarterback Jacurri Brown directed a 16-play drive 69-yard drive on his work of the season but the drive fizzed when he missed on a fourth down pass on the Wildcat two,.
For the game, UCF out-gained New Hampshire in total offense, 639-162, The Knights finished the game with 454 yards rushing, led by a 142-yard night from Harvey. Jefferson hit seven of 14 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Eight different players caught passes for the Knights, led by Hudson, who had two catches for 61 yards. UCF had 19 “big plays” on the night, including 14 rushes of 10 or more yards and five pass plays of 15 or more yards. Defensively, the Knights gave up just three plays of 10 or more yards.
Scoring Summary 1 2 3 4 — Total
New Hampshire 0 3 0 0 — 3
UCF 6 23 28 0 –57
First
UCF: Colton Boomer, FG 25, 10:55
UCF: Boomer, FG 44, 5:00
Second
UCF: KJ Jefferson 3 run (Boomer kick), 14:45
UCF: Safety, Tim Bonagura (NH) tackled in End Zone after blocked punt, 13:12
UCF: RJ Harvey 1 run (Boomer kick), 9:40
NH: Nick Mazzie 38 FG, 4:31
UCF: Harvey 13 run (Boomer kick), 0:43
Third
UCF: Myles Montgomery 49 pass from Jefferson (Boomer kick), 9:54
UCF: Peny Boone 59 run (Boomer kick), 6:39
UCF: Johnny Richardson 22 pass from Jefferson (Boomer kick), 3:05
UCF: Montgomery 25 run (Boomer kick), 1:28
Fourth
None
GAME NOTES:
Osceola High was well represented at the game, Former Kowboys defensive tackles and 2022 graduates John Walker (Sophomore) and Derrick LeBlanc (Redshirt Freshman) are on the UCF roster, as is true freshman Thomas Gearity, who made team as a walk-on. Walker received one start and played in all 13 games last year finishing with 24 total tackles (14 solo) to go with five tackles for loss and 1/2 sack. Battling for a starting position this year, he was injured in the pre-season with hopes that he will return later in the year. Senior Dylan Ruiz, who also played at Osceola, started at defensive tackle for New Hampshire. He had a big play in the first quarter, staying at home and pulling down WR Xavier Townsend for a four-yard loss on a reverse. Ruiz finished the game with four total tackles, including 1.5 tackles-for-loss and 1/2 quarterback sack. He started all 11 games for the Wildcats last year, recording eight tackles-for-loss and four quarterback sacks. Current Osceola running back Taevion Swint is a UCF commit in the 2025 recruiting class.
Head coach Gus Malzahn opened his fourth year at the UCF helm and his 13th overall as a head coach. With the win against the Wildcats, he pushed his record to 25-16 with the Knights, 102-54 overall and also won his fourth consecutive opener with the Knights. His previous head coaching stop was at Auburn.
Max Brosmer, who threw 29 touchdowns and just five interceptions for New Hampshire last year, transferred to Minneosta and was the Thursday night starter for the Gophers against North Carolina.
Several Knights appear on pre-season watch lists for major awards, including QB KJ Jefferson (Maxwell, Davey O’Brien and Johnny Unitas award), RB RJ Harvey (Doak Walker, Maxwell), WR Kobe Henderson (Belitnikoff Award), DT Lee Hunter (Outland, Lombardi, Bednarik, Bronko Nagurski awards).
UCF was picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 this season, with Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Arizona ranked 1-5.
The Knights drove the length of the field on third first two drives –picking up 83 yards rushing — but KJ Jefferson missed on all four of his pass attempts and the Knights had to settle for a pair of field goals from Colton Boomer.
LB Dedhawn Pace set up UCF’s first touchdown of the game, returning an interception 37 yards to the New Hampshire three yard-line at the start of the second quarter. Jefferson ran it in on the next play for a 13-0 lead. Antione Jackson would also have an interception for the Knights.
Special teams played a big role for UCF in the first half. Colton Boomer made two field goals, three extra points and put all three of his kickoffs out of the end zone for touchbacks. Xavier Townsend had more return yards (144) in the first half than New Hampshire had in total offense (78),
The Knight return to action next Saturday, Sept. 7 when they host Sam Houston University. The Knights and the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children will recognize Childhood Cancer Awareness Month at the game. UCF will don specially designed logos on their helmet for the game.
