Jaden Nixon and Jacurri Brown combined for 262 yards and four touchdowns to lead UCF’s high-powered ground game in a 68-7 romp over visiting North Carolina A&T on Saturday in Orlando.
Jacurri Brown leaps a North Carolina A&T defender for extra yardage in UCF’s 68-7 victory in Orlando. Photo by Debra Edgar
Nixon carried the ball just four times, but found the end zone twice on dashes of 87 and 66 yards to lead all rushers with 156 yards. He lit the evening’s fireworks with a 96-yard touchdown return of the opening kickoff and the Knights (2-0) never looked back, scoring points on 9 of 12 offensive possessions.
Nixon’s initial touchdown jaunt tied for the third-longest run from scrimmage in program history. He is also the first Knights player to house a kickoff since 2017.
“I can’t take credit all for myself,” Nixon said. “I mean, our offensive line did a great job opening up the holes, and coach did a great job making calls. On that kick return, everybody did a great job doing their job and that’s something we took pride on this week. We really want to grow and expand what we can do. And we got it done.”
Brown benefited from a dominant offensive line as well. He carried just five times but amassed 106 yards and scored on runs of 60 and 15 yards to help lead a ground attack that amassed 356 yards.
All seven of the Knight’s offensive touchdowns were scored on the ground, starting in the first quarter with short TD sprints of 1 and 4 yards by quarterback Tayven Jackson, who was making his first start in place of the injured Cam Fancher. In addition, Jackson completed 12 of 21 passes for 189 yards.
Redshirt freshman Stacy Gage completed the ground assault with his first career touchdown, a 23-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.
The seven rushing touchdowns were one shy of tying the program’s single game record of eight, set in 2011.
Myles Montgomery had a team-high eight carries for UCF in its victory over the Aggies. Photo by Debra Edgar
No doubt was left to the outcome on Saturday in front of 44,009 at the Acriscure Bounce House. The Knights surged to a 28-0 lead after just one quarter following yet another late beginning. For the second consecutive week at UCF, the start of the game was delayed by weather.
But the Knights wasted no time once the teams were given the go-ahead. The four first-quarter touchdowns covered all three phases of the game. In addition to Nixon’s special teams score, and Jackson’s runs from scrimmage, redshirt sophomore Rodney Lora tallied a defensive touchdown as well when he recovered an Aggies’ fumble in the end zone just two minutes into the game. Senior Nyjalik Kelly caused the chaos with a strip sack.
“All week we talked about getting turnovers and starting fast early, so it was a blessing and great that we were able to get interceptions early, and get a couple of sacks early,” Kelly said.
A stout UCF defense held the 0-2 Aggies out of the end zone until the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Shimique Blizzard, who led the Aggies with 75 yards on 11 carries, scored on a 17-yard run.
Senior Cole Kozlowski led the defensive charges for UCF with a team-high seven tackles, including six solo stops and one TFL. Freshman Sincere Edwards turned in a big night as well with a team-leading 3.5 TFLs, while redshirt sophomore Rodney Lora added three more. Jayden McDonald intercepted an Aggies’ pass and Antione Jackson pounced on a North Carolina A&T fumble.
The win marks the Knights’ 15th straight victory under Head Coach Scott Frost, dating back to 2017, his first stint with the program.
“In general, it was a step in the right direction,” Frost said. “We’re certainly nowhere near close to what we need to be and can be at, but there were a lot of good things tonight.”
