UCF 31, Rice 28

1234T
UCF (8-3)9013931
RICE (1-9)7140728

Final

3:00 PM ET, November 19, 2005
Rice Stadium
HOUSTON, TX

Central Florida 31, Rice 28

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Team Stat Comparison
 
1st Downs2322
Total Yards354451
Passing205214
Rushing149237
Penalties6-501-7
3rd Down Conversions6-144-13
4th Down Conversions3-33-4
Turnovers12
Possession31:0828:52
Individual Leaders
UCF Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Moffett19/2920521
Rice Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Armstron...6/1218531
Clement2/42901
UCF Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Peters1477127
Smith1658013
Moffett616015
Rice Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Armstrong17108036
Wall Jr.1860113
Falco63008
UCF Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Johnson653015
Marshall461123
Walker344126
Ross32209
Rice Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Falco3120180
Dillard348124
Aranda138038
Smith1818
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTERUCFRICE
FG10:43MATT PRATER 37 YD FG
Drive info: 9 plays, 65 yards.
30
TD8:27JOE BURNETT 58 YD PUNT RETURN (BLOCKED XP)90
TD2:15QUINTON SMITH 8 YD PASS FROM JOEL ARMSTRONG (BRENNAN LANDRY KICK)
Drive info: 13 plays, 80 yards.
97
SECOND QUARTERUCFRICE
TD10:42JOHN WALL JR. 5 YD RUN (BRENNAN LANDRY KICK)
Drive info: 10 plays, 76 yards.
914
TD0:14JARETT DILLARD 6 YD PASS FROM JOEL ARMSTRONG (BRENNAN LANDRY KICK)
Drive info: 7 plays, 80 yards.
921
THIRD QUARTERUCFRICE
TD4:56MIKE WALKER 26 YD PASS FROM STEVEN MOFFETT (MATT PRATER KICK)
Drive info: 10 plays, 81 yards.
1621
FOURTH QUARTERUCFRICE
TD14:52JASON PETERS 27 YD RUN (BRANDON MARSHALL 2PT PASS FROM STEVEN MOFFETT)
Drive info: 8 plays, 69 yards.
2421
TD14:37MIKE FALCO 80 YD PASS FROM JOEL ARMSTRONG (BRENNAN LANDRY KICK)
Drive info: 1 plays, 80 yards.
2428
TD1:25BRANDON MARSHALL 18 YD PASS FROM STEVEN MOFFETT (MATT PRATER KICK)
Drive info: 7 plays, 31 yards.
3128

HOUSTON (AP) -- Steven Moffett threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall with 1:25 left, giving Central Florida a 31-28 win over Rice on Saturday and a spot in the Conference USA title game a year after going winless.

The Golden Knights (8-3, 7-1) posted the biggest turnaround in the country after last year's 0-11 season. UCF, which earlier this year ended a the nation's longest losing streak at 17 games spanning two seasons, will play UTEP or Tulsa in the first C-USA championship game Dec. 3.

Jason Venson set up the winning score, returning an interception 13 yards to the Rice 31 with 4:08 remaining. Joe Burnett then intercepted a Rice pass with 27 seconds left to seal the victory.

UCF had to come from behind twice in the fourth quarter.

Rice (1-9, 1-6) took a 21-9 lead at halftime after trailing 9-0 deficit early in the first quarter. Joel Armstrong threw three touchdown passes and ran 17 times for 108 yards to lead the Owls, who themselves held the longest losing streak in the nation at 14 games until last week.

Armstrong's 6-yard touchdown to Jarett Dillard put the Owls up 21-9.

Then UCF put together drives of 81 and 69 yards in the third quarter, the latter ending with Jason Peters' 27-yard TD run that gave the Golden Knights a 24-21 lead.

But on Rice's first offensive play after that, Armstrong hit Mike Falco with an 80-yard pass to put the Owls up 28-24 just 23 seconds into the fourth quarter. Falco finished with three catches for 120 yards and the score.

For UCF, Moffett finished 19-of-29 for 205 yards.

College Football Scores

Other Scores:

Saturday, November 19th
Tulsa 38 Final
Tulane 14
UCF 31 Final
Rice 28
East Carolina 34 Final
Marshall 29
Southern Methodist 29 Final
Houston 24
UAB 35 Final
UTEP 23
Memphis 24 Final
Southern Miss 22