After Rutgers rout, UCF readies for grudge match

The Knights broke their streak of heart attack finishes with a trouncing of Rutgers in front of a nearly sold out crowd covered in black and gold Thursday night. And they made sure the fans knew early that it wouldn't be the same as the edge-of-your-seat thrillers against Memphis, Houston or Temple. It was time for a rout.

Of the Knights first eight wins of the season, five came by a touchdown or less. The last three had given rise to the "heart attack" mantra, with the Knights having to come back in the final minute in all three to win. After a 41-17 early Thanksgiving dinner, that talk was over at the Bright House. It wasn't even close. The Knights (9-1, 6-0) took a 21-0 lead and never let go.

Quarterback Blake Bortles would throw, juke, dive and bulldoze his way to 335 yards in the air and 32 on the ground while leading an offense that scored on six of its first seven possessions. Just six minutes into the second quarter the Knights already had their winning margin. Rutgers (5-5, 2-4) would strike back, but never got closer than two touchdowns.

Bortles would go 21 for 30 on pass attempts, though all but three of those throws were perfect strikes to receivers who at times had trouble holding onto even wide-open passes.

Rutgers rarely capitalized on UCF's rare on-field miscues, though the Scarlet Knights did so in bizarre fashion when the UCF special teams left Rutgers defensive back Anthony Cioffi a wide-open lane to block a UCF punt that would tumble into the end zone and be recovered for a touchdown. Call that Cioffi's revenge for being bulldozed by UCF running back William Stanback en route to a 20-yard carry that set up a UCF touchdown.

The Rutgers punt block TD would be the closest Rutgers would come in closing the scoring gap just before halftime. UCF's defense would hold them to only one offensive touchdown in the game, easily among their best performances of the season. While UCF's offense ran the field, the defense held Rutgers to only 221 total yards, only 69 of which came on the ground.

Rutgers' only offensive touchdown came after a powerful goal line stand by the Knights' defense that went to fourth and goal before Rutgers' Paul James broke the plane by a fraction of an inch. James, the All-American candidate running back who had averaged more than 143 yards per game this season, was completely shut down by the Knights, only rushing for 20 yards — by far his worst game of the season.

In the meantime the Knights' stars shined, with running back Storm Johnson rushing for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Bortles had one of his best rushing games of the year, breaking tackles at will to make first downs out of blown passing plays. Wide receiver J.J. Worton caught 117 yards worth of receptions, with Breshad Perriman, back from a concussion injury, catching for 99 yards and a TD.

The win put the Knights firmly in the driver's seat for the American Athletic Conference lead, with the Knights needing only a win over conference rival USF (2-8, 2-4) to solidify at least a shared AAC championship with Cincinnati (9-2, 6-1). The Bearcats held off Houston 24-17 on Nov. 23. The Bearcats don’t play again until Dec. 5, when they play Louisville (10-1, 6-1). If Louisville wins, the Knights will have sole possession of the AAC championship.

At 8 p.m. Friday the Knights will have a shot at a second Thanksgiving celebration, hosting a languid University of South Florida team that had previously ended the teams' official "War on I-4" rivalry in search of stronger competition after going 4-0 in their series. UCF is having the best season start in team history. The Bulls are off to one of their worst, recently giving Memphis (3-7, 1-5) its first conference win of the season.