ORLANDO, Fla. _ There was a little bit of everything during UCF's nation-leading 18th consecutive victory Saturday night at Spectrum Stadium.
The No. 12 Knights entertained an announced crowd of 40,856 with a 48-20 rout of SMU.
UCF had an offensive touchdown by a defensive lineman. The Knights had a fumble recovery by a kicker. They even had the return of defensive back Aaron Robinson for the first time since a scary collision during the opening game of the season.
Oh, and there was McKenzie Milton completing passes for nearly 300 yards, Adrian Killins Jr. running for more than 100 yards and the Knights' arsenal of receivers catching balls all game.
It was business as usual for UCF, which improved to 5-0 this season and played its sixth consecutive game in front of more than 40,000 spectators at Spectrum Stadium.
Matthew Wright was the man of the hour during the first half.
Not only did Wright connect for field goals of 45 and 34 yards, he also came up with a huge fumble recovery after safety Rashard Causey jarred the ball loose from SMU's James Proche on a kickoff in the first quarter. Wright recovered the ball at the SMU 18-yard line, and three plays later Milton hooked up with Dredrick Snelson for a 14-yard touchdown pass to put UCF up 14-3 early.
The kicker was also active as a tackler, and although he didn't actually make an official takedown he forced two SMU return men to hurdle his efforts and end up out of bounds.
The UCF defense came up big on the next drive and the Knights' offense rolled right back down the field. Otis Anderson scored a 4-yard touchdown to cap a seven-play, 70-yard march, and UCF was out in front of SMU 21-3.
One of UCF's few mistakes came on an interception thrown by Milton. SMU's Patrick Nelson returned the ball 22 yards to the UCF 9-yard line, and three plays later Proche scored on a short pass from Ben Hicks to make it 21-10.
Wright's two field goals added to UCF's 27-10 halftime lead.
Milton came out firing in the second half, completing four of his first five passes to get the Knights close to the goal line, and then UCF coach Josh Heupel called on the Tank Formation. Big 6-foot-2, 315-pound defensive tackle Trysten Hill lined up at fullback, a formation often set up as a decoy. Hill, however, got the call. He took the handoff and launched himself over the goal line, leaping for a one-yard touchdown plunge.
Hill was so excited that he spiked the ball in celebration and his exuberance earned him a penalty flag. The touchdown, of course, still stood and the Knights were rolling with a 34-10 lead.
Milton hit Tre Nixon on a beautiful 30-yard touchdown pass to start the fourth quarter and bump the lead to 41-13. The final touchdown came on an Otis Anderson 30-yard run in the fourth quarter, Anderson's second touchdown of the game.
UCF fans got a scare in the second quarter when Milton took off to avoid pressure and ran for nine yards before getting sandwiched between Demerick Gary and Kyan Mitchell. Milton lay on the field for a while as UCF staff members came to his aide, but he eventually walked off.
Milton missed the next series, giving way to backup Darriel Mack Jr., but he returned on the following drive.
Killins still did not find paydirt from a distance Saturday, but he did get plenty of chances. The Daytona Beach Mainland running back had 88 yards on 14 carries by halftime, including a 15-yard touchdown. He wound up carrying the ball 20 times for 113 yards. His longest run was a 26-yarder that set up Wright's second field goal just before halftime.
The UCF defense was stout most of the night, but it did have its lapses that resulted in big-yardage plays. During one SMU play in the fourth quarter, five UCF players missed tackles.
When the ball got inside the red zone, however, the Knights buckled down and the Mustangs had to settle for field goals.
Titus Davis came up with one of the biggest defensive plays for UCF when SMU faked a punt late in the third quarter and punter Jamie Sackville appeared to be headed for a first down. Davis, however, came up and popped Sackville just shy of the first-down marker and UCF took over on downs.
Antwan Collier had another big hit in the fourth quarter to stop a possible first down and SMU turned the ball over on downs in the red zone.
The Mustangs had chances to make it interesting early. SMU drove the ball inside the UCF 10-yard line on its first possession, but Knights safety Kyle Gibson forced a fumble by SMU quarterback William Brown for a loss and the Mustangs ended up kicking a field goal.
Then on the Knights' first possession, Milton lofted a pass that SMU's Robert Hayes Jr. looked to have intercepted and was headed the other way for a 60-yard pick-6, but he dropped the ball and the home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief.
SMU, which scored its final touchdown with 36 seconds remaining, did manage more than 300 yards, but much of that came during mop-up time.
UCF, meanwhile, collected 541 yards en route to another win.
