ORLANDO, Fla. — The UCF Knights opened up their 2022 college football season with a home victory against South Carolina State 56-10. John Rhys Plumlee threw for 308 yards and four scores to lead the way for the Knights. He also led the team in rushing with 86 yards on 15 attempts and a score. Running back Isaiah Bower added two touchdowns and 83 rushing yards for the Knights.
The scoring began in the first quarter with Javon Baker on the receiving end of a 12-yard pass from Plumlee. Three minutes later, Kemore Gamble scored on a 30-yard pass, and then Plumlee scored on a 17-yard run with 3:10 left in the first quarter.
Bower scored first in the second quarter with a 1-yard run with 11:02 on the clock. After a 23-yard field goal by South Carolina State’s Gavyn Zimmerman, UCF led 28-3 at the half. The Bulldogs scored first in the third quarter when QB Corey Fields (5/15, 42 yards) connected with Shaquan Davis for a 26-yard score. Another TD pass from Plumlee, this time to Johnny Richardson for 18 yards, and another one-yard score from Bowser put UCF up 42-10 at the end of the third.
Plumlee’s final touchdown came on a 21-yard pass to Zach Marsh Wojan with 13:15 in the fourth. The final score came on a blocked punt when Quadric Bullard returned it for 19 yards. UCF held the Bulldogs to just 2-16 on third down. The Bulldogs only managed nine first downs in the game and only had 91 yards of offense despite the similar time of possession. UCF 30:44 to South Carolina State 29:16. UCF had 600 yards of total offense.
Next up for UCF (1-0) is another home game against Louisville (0-1) on September 9th.
For South Carolina State (0-1), they’re on the road again, this time against Bethune-Cookman (0-1) on September 10th.
Written by Garin Turner
