Every marquee rivalry in college football has 1 game that you can circle back to that marked the start of the classic games. The War On I4 had that game on Friday evening. The game had everything, a conference title berth on the line, an undefeated season on the line, a coach who might be on the verge of leaving for another job. The game lived up to the hype and more. USF started hot and scored on their 3rd play from scrimmage. After that, they found themselves trailing for the majority of the night. Quinton Flowers capped a career 500 yard passing day by finding Darnell Salomon on an 83-yard bomb to finally tie the game back up with less than 2 minutes remaining. It was UCF though that had one last big play left in them. Mike Hughes returned the ensuing kickoff 95-yards for a touchdown to take the lead back. USF fumbled on their last gasp effort to ice the 49-42 victory for the Knights.
The 1st quarter looked like it had all the makings of a track meet. Both teams were on the board less than 4 minutes into the game. USF struck 1st on their 3rd play from scrimmage. Quinton Flowers got the ball to Tyre McCants and then his wide receiver did the rest. McCants litterally dragged a UCF defender with him into the endzone on the 47-yard touchdown. The Knights weren’t flustered and answered right away. McKenzie Milton led his team right down the field and tied the game up with a 3-yard touchdown run. The next Bulls’ drive would end prematurely when the UCF defense made a big 4th down stop. The offense took that momentum from the defense and turned it into another touchdown drive. Milton would cap that drive by finding Dredrick Snelson in the back of the endzone to put his team on top. USF started off great on their next drive, but couldn’t get any points once again when Emilio Nadelman was wide right on a 41-yard field goal attempt. Milton continued his fantastic game on the ensuing drive. This time he wouldn’t get credit for the touchdown, but his perfectly timed pitch to Adrian Killins Jr. gave the Knights a 14 point lead after 1.
The 2nd quarter belonged to the Bulls. After UCF scored touchdowns on every drive in the 1st quarter, they punted on every drive in the 2nd. Flowers continued his success through the air to get his team back into the ballgame. Temi Alaka made an outstanding catch on Flowers’ 1st touchdown pass of the quarter, but Nadelman missed the extra point. The 2nd touchdown of the quarter came with just over 2 minutes left in the half when Mitchell Wilcox hauled in a Flowers’ pass in the back of the endzone. South Florida was even in business in the closing seconds of the half, but Flowers was intercepted by Mike Hughes. That kept UCF in the lead by 1 heading to the locker room.
The 3rd quarter was once again back and forth. Milton found Gabe Davis for the 1st score of the quarter to put his team up 8. Then it was the Quinton Flowers show once again. He drove the Bulls into great scoring position and then the Bulls got a little creative with the play calling. Darius Tice lined up as a quarterback in the wildcat formation and ran it in from 6 yards out to make it a 1-point game again. Milton was then intercepted by Ronnie Hoggins on the ensuing possession. That play really turned the momentum fully towards the Bulls. Flowers capped the 4-play drive with a 24-yard touchdown run to put his team in front for the 1st time since the opening score. With that rushing touchdown Flowers became just the 6th player in college football history with over 60 passing touchdowns and 40-plus rushing touchdowns.
After everything that had happened to that point in the game, the 4th quarter still surpassed all of it. UCF found themselves back in front when Milton found Snelson for their 2nd touchdown connection of the game. USF struggled to get back in front and the Knights extended their lead to 8 when a screen pass beat the blitz for a 23-yard touchdown with just over 2 minutes remaining. Quinton Flowers then came up big again. He found Darnell Salomon on an 83-yard bomb of a touchdown that pulled the Bulls within 2. Flowers then found a wide open D’Ernest Johnson on the 2-point attempt to tie the game. Then the unbelievable happened. Mike Hughes returned the ensuing kickoff 95-yards for a touchdown to put Central Florida right back in front. USF had a great return of their own, but a fumble by Wilcox after getting a touchdown brought an instant classic to a brutal end.
With the loss USF finishes the season with a 9-2 record. They will now await a bowl bid after next week’s games. UCF improved to 11-0 with the victory and now will host Memphis in the AAC conference title game next Saturday.