Each Thursday until the 2018 UCF Football season gets underway, Knight Sports Now will have a little fun with Throwback Thursdays. Every week, we’ll take a look at the Knights’ best game in each of their years competing at the FBS level. This week, we continue with 2001.
UCF Football’s Best Game of 2001: 63-0 win vs. Liberty
In what would be its final season as an independent program, UCF finished 2001 with a 6-5 record. The Knights dropped some of their bigger games that year, falling on the road to No. 19 Clemson (21-13), No. 8 Virginia Tech (46-14) and Arkansas (27-20). But from the start of October until the end of the season, UCF went 5-2 with some blowout wins. Among those was a 63-0 rout of Liberty, which still stands as the Knights’ largest shutout win in school history.
The game, played at the Citrus Bowl in front of an announced crowd of 17,103, was never close. UCF scored on its first six possessions, heading into halftime with a 42-0 lead. Quarterback Ryan Schneider wasn’t needed for the second half, finishing the day with 262 yards and three touchdown passes in two quarters. Terrance Williams added three touchdowns on the ground, while backup quarterback Brian Miller added two touchdowns of his own in the second half.
The UCF offense totaled 602 yards in the game, complementing the defense’s strong day. Liberty came up with just 230 yards and saw its quarterbacks get sacked five times.
The victory evened the Knights’ record at 3-3 and was the second of three straight wins to start October. Overall, the team finished 2001 with a 5-0 record at the Citrus Bowl. UCF didn’t score 63 points in another game until this past season, when it blew out East Carolina by a score of 63-21.
2001 was the Knights’ third six-win campaign since joining the FBS in 1996, but they once again failed to receive a bowl invite. They made their move to the Mid-American Conference in 2002.
For previous Throwback Thursdays from Knight Sports Now, click here.
