Miami put the
game away after just 15 minutes of play. The RedHawks outgained UCF
168- (-4) in the first quarter and outscored the Knights 21-0.
The RedHawks scored on their first two possessions as Roethlisberger
tossed two 11-yard touchdown passes to R.J. Corbin and Ryne Robinson, respectively. The scoring continued for the RedHawks when
John Busing intercepted Steven Moffett and returned the interception
28 yards for a touchdown. The score increased the RedHawk lead to
21-0 with 6:06 left in the first quarter.
The game was all but over after two quarters as the RedHawks led
35-0 at the break. Roethlisberger had an amazing first half,
totaling 300 yards through the air. He was 23-for-28 including four
touchdowns in the opening half of play.
Miami scored two additional touchdowns to pad the lead to 49-0
before UCF finally got on the scoreboard. Moffett fired his first
career touchdown pass with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Darcy Johnson
on a fourth down play in the third quarter to cut the lead to 49-7.
The 30-yard touchdown reception was the longest touchdown catch of
Johnson’s career.
UCF played two quarterbacks as Moffett threw for two touchdowns
while Jon Rivera finished with a career-high 292 yards including his
first career touchdown pass to Da’Bar Fluellen.
UCF Game Notes
#15 Miami at UCF
November 28, 2003
Florida Citrus Bowl
Miami, ranked #15 in the Associated Press Top 25 and #16 in the
ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, was just the third ranked team ever to
play UCF at the Florida Citrus Bowl. The Golden Knights are 0-3
all-time at home vs. ranked opponents.
The 56-21 loss was the second-worst loss at home in UCF school
history. The worst loss ever was a 48-12 loss to Southwest Texas
State in 1985.
Junior linebacker Antoine Poe left the game with a neck injury and
is in stable condition at Orlando Regional Hospital.
UCF ended the year 3-9 overall and 2-6 in the MAC. The three
victories were the lowest single-season total for UCF since the 1984
season, when UCF was 2-9 (NCAA Division II).
Matt Prater’s 68-yard punt in the second quarter tied for the fifth
longest punt in UCF history. Prater owns three of the five longest
punts in school history this season. Earlier in the year, he booted
a 74- and 71-yard punt.
Prater ended the year with an average of 47.9 yards per punt, a new
school and MAC record. The mark also puts Prater 13th in NCAA
single-season history. The old UCF record was held by Charlie
Pierce, who set the mark with a 44.1 yard average in 1996.
Peter Sands recorded his second interception of the season in the
second quarter. Sands is tied for the team lead with two
interceptions.
UCF was outscored 21-0 in the first quarter. The Golden Knights
ended the year being outscored 119-19 in the first quarter.
Nine UCF seniors made their final appearance at home for the Golden
Knights. James Cody (safety), Pat Holland (safety), David Ashkinaz
(left guard), Kyle Watkins (right tackle), Larry Brown (defensive
tackle), Brent Bolar (defensive end), Doug Webb (long snapper),
Da’Bar Fluellen (wide receiver) and Roy Williams (defensive tackle).
Jon Rivera’s 61-yard completion to Luther Huggins in the third
quarter was the longest of Rivera’s career. It was also Huggins’
longest catch of his career.
Junior quarterback Jon Rivera set career highs in passing yards,
attempts, and completions. Rivera ended the game 16 for 36 for 292
yards passing and a touchdown. Rivera’s 13-yard touchdown pass to
Da’Bar Fluellen with 27 seconds remaining in the game was the first
of his career.
Da’Bar Fluellen’s 13-yard touchdown reception late in the game was
the first of his career.
True freshman quarterback Steven Moffett tossed his first career
touchdown pass in the third quarter. The 30-yard scoring strike was
caught by tight end Darcy Johnson, the longest touchdown reception
of Johnson’s career.
Senior tight end Michael Gaines will not return to school for his
final year of eligibility in 2004. Gaines will enter the NFL Draft
and play in the Blue-Gray All-Star game Christmas Day. Gaines was
redshirted this season.
Quotes
#15 Miami at UCF
November 28, 2003
Florida Citrus Bowl
UCF Head Coach Alan Gooch
On the events of the past month:
“Football has the opportunity to teach you many life lessons. It’s
an important game to these young men and they are going to learn a
lot from it. They’ve learned over the past few weeks that they are
going to have to overcome adversity in their life. How they overcome
it is going to determine their success. That’s one thing they can
take from this.”
On Antoine Poe’s injury:
“We remembered Antoine Poe today and we fought hard for him. He’s
going to be in the hospital a while with his injury and we’re going
to meet and pray for him and his recovery. This reminds us what
these young men put on the line today.”
On the game:
“It was a tough task today. Miami is 15th-ranked in the country and
maybe they should be ranked higher. They have a good football team
and a quarterback that will be playing in the NFL someday and a very
experienced defense. My hats off to them.”
Miami Head Coach Terry Hoeppner
On Antoine Poe’s injury:
“We always take a minute after every game and reflect and we took an
extra minute today to remember [Antoine] Poe. Hopefully he’ll
recover and get back to normal soon.”
On the game:
“I’m really, really happy with the way our team played today. We
created some distractions and planned this trip in anticipation of
the game and the fact that the athletes would be away for
Thanksgiving. I was really happy with the way that our team focused
amid all the distractions and came out and played the way that we’ve
played most of the year.”