After one half of primetime AAC football, UCF leads Memphis 23-7.
The Knights’ sophomore quarterback, McKenzie Milton, had only thrown one interception, but that changed in the first half against Memphis Saturday night. With 12 minutes left in the first half, Milton’s pass was picked off in the end zone on third and goal on the Memphis 18. The Tiger’s true freshman defensive back Terrell Carter came up with the big play.
The Knights responded to Milton’s interception quickly, forcing a Memphis fumble just six minutes later. It was redshirt-senior linebacker Shaquem Griffin who put on the pressure, and junior linebacker Pat Jasinski who was able to recover it.
Three minutes later, sophomore running back Adrian Killins broke free for a 96-yard touchdown, a UCF record, to put the Knights up 16-7. Just one drive after the record breaking touchdown, junior safety Mike Hughes picked off the Memphis quarterback with three minutes left in the half.
Despite the interception, Milton was then able to bounce back and threw for a 34-yard touchdown to redshirt-junior Tre’Quan Smith to extend the Knight’s lead to 23-7 to close out the first half.