Tayven Jackson threw for one score and ran for another while the defense dominated as the UCF Knights controlled from start to finish in a 34-9 victory over North Carolina Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
Jackson was 25-of-32 for 223 yards and Nyjalik Kelly and Braeden Marshall each came up with a first-half interception for UCF (3-0).
The Knights rolled up 368 yards as Scott Frost won his 16th consecutive game as the head coach.
UNC (2-2) had allowed only nine points in its last two contests but didn’t have the same kind of success against UCF as its two-game winning streak ended.
The Tar Heels also lost starting quarterback Gio Lopez in the third quarter. He was injured while running to convert on fourth-and-1 with 6:45 to go and did not return.
Max Johnson took his place and threw a touchdown pass to Kobe Paysour with 1:06 remaining in the quarter for UNC’s lone touchdown. UNC tallied 217 yards and is 0-2 against the Big 12 this season.
The first ever meeting between the schools marked a reunion of Frost and UNC’s Bill Belichick. Frost played for the New York Jets in the late 1990s when Belichick was their defensive coordinator.
Jackson capped a successful opening drive with a 13-yard keeper to his right at the 8:23 mark of the first quarter. The Knights consumed nearly seven minutes and converted a fourth-and-1.
They nearly stretched their lead after Antoine Jackson ran back an interception 40 yards to the end zone, but a penalty negated it.
Moments later, with 6:17 on the clock, a Lopez pass was batted away and Kelly came up with it at the 27-yard line. The bonus possession led to Noe Ruelas’ 36-yard field goal and a 10-0 advantage with 4:51 remaining.
Ruelas added a 41-yard kick, his longest of the year, with 10:03 to go in the half, extending the UCF lead to 13-0.
Marshall’s interception off a ball tipped in the air inside the UCF 10 killed a potential UNC scoring drive with 5:39 to play in the half.
After Rece Verhoff nailed a 40-yard field goal for the Tar Heels’ first points, UCF made the most of the final 1:23, capping a six-play, 83-yard drive on Jackson’s touchdown toss to an open Kylan Fox with 13 seconds showing on the clock.
UCF led 20-3 at halftime and Myles Montgomery pushed his way into the end zone at the 9:51 mark of the third as the Knights extended their cushion to 27-3.
The Knights were never seriously threatened and ate up more than 10 minutes of clock in the fourth with an 18-play drive, closing it thanks to Jaden Nixon’s 5-yard touchdown run for a 34-9 lead with 1:57 to go.
–Field Level Media
