UCF QB Dillon Gabriel stays hot, leads Knights to win over Tulane

ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel followed up a career-best performance against Memphis last week with another outstanding showing, passing for 422 yards and five touchdowns as the Knights used a 27-0 surge in the first half to earn a 51-34 win over Tulane on Saturday.

The homecoming victory snapped a two-game losing streak, the program’s first such streak since the 2016 season. The Knights also remain undefeated in their UCF in Space uniforms.

“I’m proud of our guys,” UCF coach Josh Heupel said. “What they did out on the field today shows how they handled the adversity. They’ve stuck together as a football team, they played for one another today and played hard and did a great job of preparing all week.

“It gives us an opportunity to continue to come closer as a football team and get better as a football team as we go about the rest of the way home.”

Gabriel is the first Knights quarterback since Darin Slack (1987) to throw at least five touchdown passes in back-to-back games as the Knights produced 689 yards of total offense.

Early on, it appeared the defensive demons that haunted UCF during back-to-back losses to Tulsa and Memphis were going to trip the Knights against Tulane. Time and time again, the Green Wave took advantage of soft pockets in the defense to make big plays, moving the football up and down the field at will.

Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt found the end zone twice, connecting with Duece Watts for a 28-yard score and Jha’Quan Jackson on a 20-yard touchdown that gave Tulane a 14-10 lead with 4:15 left in the first quarter.

But like a prizefighter toying with his opponent in the opening rounds, UCF came out of its corner swinging away.

The Knights scored 27 unanswered points during the next 19 minutes, amassing 337 yards led by Gabriel, who tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Jake Hescock and Marlon Williams. Greg McCrae, who finished with a season-high 162 rushing yards, added a rushing touchdown, as did Bentavious Thompson.

UCF built a 23-point halftime lead after totaling 480 yards.

The Knights’ defense woke up as well, sacking Pratt three times in the second quarter while holding the Green Wave to 14 total yards of offense during that same 19-minute stretch.

Defensive linemen Randy Charlton and Kenny Turnier had two sacks apiece. Tackle Anthony Montalvo added another to help the defense register a season-high 5.0 sacks.

UCF also had a season-high 11.0 tackles for loss.

Tulane took the second-half kickoff and methodically drove downfield for a touchdown to cut the lead to 37-21. It was an all-too-familiar feeling for Knights fans, who watched the team give up double-digit halftime leads to Tulsa and Memphis.

The Green Wave once again took advantage of explosive plays, delivering five of them in the third quarter. It included a handful of rushing plays of at least 10 yards and a Pratt touchdown.

But this time around, UCF answered the bell.

Gabriel found Williams open for a 35-yard touchdown strike and followed it up with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Harris to push the Knights’ lead to 51-28 through three quarters.

Williams finished with nine catches for 174 yards and three touchdowns. He became the first UCF receiver with three touchdown catches in a game since Gabe Davis did it against UConn on Sept. 28, 2019.

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