UCF Makes History in Victory Over Penn State

The UCF football team barely escaped Pennsylvania with a win on Saturday night. The Knights defeated the Nittany Lions 34-31 for their second road victory in two consecutive games. This is the first time UCF has had a 3-0 start to the football season since 1988. This victory is even more significant because Penn State is in the Big Ten conference, which is considered to be one of the most challenging conferences in the NCAA. This is also the first time UCF has ever defeated a Big Ten team. Although we came out with the victory, Penn State did not make it easy for us. The Knights had a 34-24 lead with around 4 minutes left in the game, when the Nittany Lions scored a late touchdown to cut the lead down to just three. UCF got the ball back with just under three minutes left in the game. The Knights’ offense managed to get a game-ending first down, which allowed them to run out the remaining time on the clock to clench the victory. UCF Quarterback Blake Bortles finished the game with 288 yards and three touchdowns, completing 20 of his 27 passing attempts. Running Back Storm Johnson rushed for 117 yards also scoring a touchdown. The Knights put up over 500 yards of offense in this game, and every last bit of it was needed to defeat a strong Penn State team in their own stadium. UCF Middle Line Backer Terrance Plummer forced a key fumble in the fourth quarter that was recovered by the Knights to end a threatening Penn State offensive drive. The UCF defense may not have been able to shut Penn State’s offense down in this game, but they definitely came through for our team when we needed it the most.