Without Milton, No. 10 UCF beats ECU 37-10 for 20th straight

BY Associated Press Orlando

PUBLISHED 11:28 PM ET Oct. 20, 2018 PUBLISHED October 20, 2018 @11:28 PM

GREENVILLE, N.C. — Darriel Mack Jr. stepped in for Heisman Trophy hopeful McKenzie Milton and rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown, and No. 10 UCF forced five turnovers in beating East Carolina 37-10 for its 20th straight victory.

Starting quarterback McKenzie Milton was a late scratch with an undisclosed injury leading to Darriel Mack Jr. to get his first start
The Knights forced five takeaways to help create a cushion
UCF has a nation-long 20-game win streak

Nate Evans returned a fumble 94 yards for a momentum-changing touchdown with 10:07 left, Greg McCrae added a 74-yard TD run and the Knights (7-0, 4-0 American Athletic Conference) turned all those takeaways into 24 points.

“I just think our football team continues to compete,” coach Josh Heupel said. “We just continue to keep competing, no matter what’s going on, and that’s the sign of a really mature football team.”

UCF — which was outgained 496-427 — went up 20-3 by scoring on four consecutive possessions in the second quarter, then made it a full-fledged rout with those late big plays.

Receiver Quadry Jones threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Adrian Killins on a trick play, and Matthew Wright kicked three field goals for the Knights.

With Milton sitting this one out while in full uniform from the sideline, Mack was 12 of 20 for 69 yards but was more dangerous with his legs, rushing 7 yards for an early touchdown.

Heupel said the decision to rest Milton was made for “overall health” reasons following pregame warmups.

Freshman Holton Ahlers was 29 of 53 for 406 yards with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Brown, and added 69 yards rushing in his first start. But his fumble while attempting a jump pass inside the 5-yard line was returned by Evans for the game-sealing score.

“Every single time we got into a situation, we either turned the ball over, or we didn’t make a good decision,” ECU coach Scottie Montgomery said.

The Pirates (2-5, 0-4) have lost three straight and four of five. Jake Verity put ECU up 3-0 midway through the first with a 34-yard field goal.