Perhaps this is not a great line-up of college football today, but the UCF-Missouri match-up is one that has proven to be entertaining in the first half. Missouri holds a lead on the gritty Knights, 14-10 at the half.
Missouri’s first possession of the game started off in great field position. After a UCF punt went out of bounds at the UCF 40-yard line, Missouri was called for an illegal block to move the ball to midfield for the start of the drive. Five plays later the Tigers entered the red zone, which is when Maty Mauk rushed nine yards and followed that up with an 11-yard pass to Jimmie Hunt for the touchdown. UCF answered with a lengthy scoring drive led by William Stanbeck running the football for short gains, but the drive was limited to a short field goal after UCF got as close as the Missouri two-yard line.
UCF would take the lead early in the second quarter with a short touchdown pass from Justin Holman to Stanbeck, giving the Knights a 10-7 edge, but Missouri answered with a 14-play touchdown drive spanning 75 yards. It was again a Mauk to Hunt connection for the score and the lead.
Missouri started this game off converting all six of its third-down conversion opportunities, but UCF has been dominating the time of possession battle, nearly doubling Missouri’s time on the field.