Villanova overmatched by UCF in 48-14 road loss
In just the first quarter, UCF had 209 passing yards and 126 rushing yards, compared to Villanova’s 38 total yards.
It only took a little under six minutes for Central Florida to open up scoring in its dominating 48-14 performance over Villanova.
Villanova’s defense was overmatched, but it was the Wildcats offense that struggled most. Graduate quarterback Connor Watkins finished 9 of 23 for a total of 144 yards, while UCF second-string quarterback Timmy McClain had a career-high 321 yards and two touchdowns.
What we saw
UCF started off slow with a field goal after Villanova (2-1) forced a fourth down in the red zone, but it didn’t take long for the Knights to show why they entered the game as the top-ranked team in the nation in total offense.
In just the first quarter, UCF (3-0) had 209 passing yards and 126 rushing yards in comparison to Villanova’s 38 total yards.
The first touchdown for the Knights came from an eight-play, 45-yard scoring drive to bring the score to 10-0 with only five minutes off the clock. Just a bit over two minutes later a 40-yard interception set up the Knights for a touchdown to put them up, 17-0.
Villanova finally found the end zone for the first time in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard run from Watkins.
UCF running back RJ Harvey finished the game with 85 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns, while fellow running back Jordan McDonald also ended the game with two touchdowns.
The Knights offense calmed down in the second half, but UCF still opened up scoring in the third quarter with a 24-yard run for a touchdown from Harvey to go up, 41-0. After giving up a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, the Knights redeemed their lead after a 36-yard pass completion from McClain to Jaylon Griffin.
Villanova’s second time getting on the board came off a six-play, 58-yard touchdown, but UCF had already put the game away.
Breakthrough play
Villanova’s only promising play of the game started late in the third quarter as they made it to the red zone for the first time. With 5:12 left in the quarter, Watkins completed a 35-yard pass to DeeWil Barlee to the UCF 35-yard line for a first down.
Villanova then unsuccessfully ran the ball twice to bring them to a third down where Watkins threw a 6-yard pass completion to the UCF 18, followed by a 10-yard pass completion to senior wide receiver Rayjuon Pringle.
Less than two minutes into the final quarter, Watkins successfully ran the ball for three yards to get Villanova on the board for the first time in the game.
Up next
The Wildcats head home to take on Rhode Island (2-1) to open conference play next Saturday (2 p.m., FloSports). The Wildcats are 11-4 all-time against the Rams.