The second season under head coach Josh Heupel was an impressive affair, as the No. 17 UCF football team rolled to a 62-0 win over Florida A&M in the 2019 season opener at Spectrum Stadium.
The Knights improved their program record home winning streak to 16 games, the second longest streak in the nation.
Eight different Knights scored in the game as UCF put up 694 yards of total offense.
UCF scored 30 or more points for the 27th straight game, the nation’s longest such streak and the longest streak of the Associated Press era (since 1936).
Redshirt senior quarterback Brandon Wimbush, who transferred to UCF from Notre Dame in the offseason, made his first start as a Knight and finished 12-of-23 with 168 yards and two touchdowns through the air, as well as eight rushes for 20 yards.
Freshman Dillon Gabriel saw his first collegiate action as well, throwing a touchdown on his first drive when he connected with junior running back/wide receiver Otis Anderson for a 24-yard score. Gabriel finished with 127 yards and three touchdowns on 9-for-13 passing.
Adrian Killins and Greg McCrae both scored rushing touchdowns, marking the 27th straight game UCF has scored both a rushing and a receiving touchdown, a streak that leads the nation.
The defense was just as impressive and held the Rattlers to 96 yards, marking the fewest yards tallied by a Knights opponent in 10 years.
The Knights defense finished with 12.0 tackles for loss and 14 quarterback hurries, while holding the Rattlers scoreless. It was UCF’s first shutout since Sept. 8, 2018.
The Knights banded together through the game’s toughest moment, when junior cornerback Brandon Moore went down with an injury late in the third quarter and needed to be carted off the field. “He’s like a brother,” wide receiver Gabriel Davis said of his former high school and now UCF teammate. “It’s so heartbreaking to see a brother like that to go down.”
The Knights will need to regroup and move on in preparation of their road matchup against FAU in week two. UCF is scheduled to face the Owls on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
