ATLANTA, GA – The Knights opened their football season with an impressive victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 49-21.
In what looked to be a concerning start for the Knights, ended with a convincing win for the Knights on the road. The Yellow Jackets started the game off with an impressive 75-yard kick yard return followed by a 1-yard touchdown 3 plays later.
The Knights responded by engineering a 75-yard drive finishing with a 6-yard TD score from Gabriel. This, en route to UCF breaking the game wide open, scoring 28 unanswered points.
The Knights did most of their damage in the 2nd and 4th quarters, scoring 21 points in each quarter.
UCF Quarterback Dillon Gabriel had himself a day tallying 417 passing yards with 4 touchdown passes to 1 interception. Gabriel also added 30 yards on the ground.
UCF head coach Josh Heupel on Gabriel’s play, “We made tons of adjustments on the sideline and he was flawless in doing all that. That’s extremely hard to do. That speaks to his growth from year one to year two.”
Gabriel had significant help from his number 1 and 2 wide receivers on Saturday. Marlon Williams hauled in 10 passes on 13 targets for 154 receiving yards and 2 scores, while Jaylon Robinson had 6 grabs for 105 yards.
The Knights defense also played a large role in the team’s victory, taking the ball away via 2 interceptions. UCF’s defense however, failed to reach the quarterback on the day finishing with 0 sacks, a stat to pay attention to going forward.
Because the college football season was in jeopardy all summer due to the pandemic and through all the uncertainty, this win for the Knights is especially sweet.
Next up, the Knights look to improve to 2-0 as they will again travel on the road, this time, facing off against East Carolina in its American Athletic Conference opener.
