|
 Shane Carden tossed all three of his touchdowns in the fourth
quarter as East Carolina overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit,
but was unable to run out the clock after getting the ball back with
a four-point lead and 1:47 remaining. Carden took a sack on fourth
down and Holman threw 14 yards to Josh Reese to get UCF to its own
49-yard line with five seconds remaining before Perriman got behind
three defenders to haul in the game-winner.
William Stanback ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns, Holman threw
for 274 yards and Perriman made four catches for 139 yards as the
Knights (9-3, 7-1 AAC) finished in a tie with Memphis for the league
crown while Cincinnati can join them with a victory over Houston on
Saturday. Shane Carden was 36-of-48 for 397 yards and Justin Hardy
had 12 receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown for the Pirates
(8-4, 5-3).
UCF held a commanding 26-9 advantage following Shawn Moffitt’s
fourth field goal midway through the third quarter, but he missed a
36-yarder at the end of the next drive and East Carolina began to
chip away as Cam Worthy hauled in a 15-yard TD from Carden with
13:16 to go. The Knights went three-and-out on their next possession
and the Pirates needed less than three minutes to close within 26-23
on a 14-yard toss to a wide-open Marquez Grayson.
[to top of second column] |
East Carolina was unable to capitalize on its third fumble recovery
of the season on the ensuing possession, but forced another
three-and-out the next time UCF touched the ball and Hardy made a
leaping grab in the end zone with 2:17 to complete the comeback. The
Knights turned it over on downs after Holman threw incomplete on
fourth-and-20, but the Pirates could only run 1:37 off the clock to
set up the dramatic finish.
GAME NOTEBOOK: UCF, which won the AAC outright last season, has won
consecutive conference championships for the first time in school
history. … The Pirates outscored the Knights 21-6 in the fourth
quarter Thursday, extending their advantage for the season to
151-63. … Perriman became the 11th Knight to reach 2,000 receiving
yards (2,105) in his career.
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