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■
Ryan Soderlin/DN
lepper Saturday. Culpepper riddled the Husker defense for 318 yards passing.
Demps (No. 10) and Deaubrey Devine. Green ran for 123 yards
P' ■ - ■ ■ ■ ? •- si
Scott McClurg/DN
MIKE BROWN (No. 21) and Jerome Peterson knock a pass away from Charles Lee. Peterson intercepted the ball.
Golden Knights save
pride in 14-point loss
- i i
By Jay Saunders
Assignment Reporter
Everyone seemed surprised that
Nebraska won its game against
Central Florida by only 14 points,
played most of its first-string offense
and defense late in the fourth quarter
and was losing at home at halftime
for the first time since 1995.
That is, everyone except the
Golden Knights. / '
.Central Florida opened some
_ eyes across the country with its 38
24 lossto the Comhuskers Saturday.
* UCF led at three different times in
the game. The Knights opened the
scoring in the first quarter and sus
tained two first-half Husker scoring
drives to take a 17-14 lead at half
time.
“We played pretty close to the top
of our game,” UCF coach Gene
McDowell said. “I don’t think
(Nebraska) played-as capable as they
could in the beginning.”
UCF moved the ball effectively
with a passing attack geared around
the right arm of junior quarterback
Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper sur
vived the NU defensive pressure and
threw for 318 yards against a young
Nebraska secondary.
Culpepper had 34 yards rushing
while the rest of the UCF team mus
tered just 13. The preseason third
team All-American also scored
Central Florida’s first touchdown, a
Scoring Summary
Team Qtr Scoring play Conversion Score
NMasette UCF
UCF 1st D. Culpepper 10-yd run F. Waczewski kick 0 7
NU 2nd S. Jackson 16-yd pass from S.Frost K. Brown kick 7 7
UCF 2nd F. Waczewski kick 51-yd field goal 7 10
NU 2nd F. London 8-yd run K. Brown kick 14 10
UCF 2nd M. Grant 2-yd run F. Waczewski kick 14 17
NU 3rd K. Brown 21 -yd field goal 17 17
NU 3rd C. Buckhalter 13-ydrun K. Brown kick 24 17
NU 3rd C. Buckhalter 5-yd run K. Brown kick 31 17
UCF 4th K. Moore 4-yd pass from D. Culpepper F. Waczewski lock 31 24
NU 4th S. Frost 5-yd run K. Brown kick 38 24
10-yard scoring run to cap a 69-yard
drive.
But for Culpepper, it was a tale of
two halves. He passed for 186 yards
in the first half, leading the Knights
to 17 first-half points. In die second
half, Culpepper accumulated 154
yards in total offense and threw his
only interception in the fourth quar
ter, a pass intended for Charles Lee
in the end zone that was picked off
by Jerome Peterson.
Culpepper said he was happy
with the team’s performance, but he
gave a lot of credit to the Husker
defense for stepping up in die second
half.
“Mr. (Grant) Wistrom and his
defensive friends really picked up
the pace in the second half,”
Culpepper said. “They were liked
crazed dogs out there.”
McDowell kept his offense on the
field on a fourth-and-1 situation late
in the third quarter when die Knights
were on the NU 29-yard line.
Culpepper ran a sneak on the left
side for a gain of two yards.
Central Florida went at the
Huskers the entire game.
“We came in feeling we could
move the ball,” UCF wide receiver
Siaha Burley said. “We don’t want to
accept a moral victory, but we earned
a little respect.”
McDowell said he was happy
after the game that he didn’t have to
answer questions about another
Husker blowout.
“This is a huge morale booster
for every UCF fan,” said, whose pro
gram moved up to Division-IA last
season. “I am just happy we all have
a chance to talk about this. I don’t -
think we would be here if the score
was 70-6.”