Central Michigan University
Central Florida
Central Florida Tops Chippewas, 31-13
10/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
The Chippewas lose their fifth straight game and are 2-6 overall. They remain winless in Mid-American Conference play at 0-5. The home team bagged its third win and is 3-5 overall. The Golden Knights are 2-3 in the MAC.
TheGolden Knight offense was too much for the Chippewas to handle. The UCF offense racked up 461 yards of offense to CMU's 316. The Golden Knights threw for 252 yards thanks to Ryan Schneider's 254 yards on 25-for-32 passing. Schneider also threw two touchdowns and three picks.
The Chippewa offense was led by Jerry Seymour. The freshman running back returned from injury to rush for 114 of CMU's 198 yards. He had 17 touches for a 6.1 yards-per-carry average.
While Seymour led all Chippewa rushers, it was fellow runnigbacks Kenan Lawhorne and Terrence Jackson who provided all of the scoring for the Chippewas.
Lawhorne, who had four rushes for 40 yards and one catch for nine more, came out of the backfield and caught a pass for the first score in the opening quarter. It capped a three-play, 12-yard drive at the 1:29 mark. It answered UCF's first score, a 27-yard scamper by Alex Haynes. But, a failed two-point conversion left the Chippewas down one at the end of the first, 7-6.
Tavaris Capers was the difference in the second quarter. He caught both of his TD passes in the second stanza, a 28-yard pass at 14:17 and a two-yard catch with two minutes remaining. Capers led all receivers with nine catches and 84 yards.
Sandwiched between Capers' scores was a two-yard TD rush by Terrence Jackson. Seymour's 13-yard run got the Chippewas inside the five and Jackson capped a 47-yard drive when he pushed his way across the goal line with 11:12 remaining in the half.
Matt Foster came on in the final three seconds of the first half to attempt a 33-yard field goal. The freshman missed his first-ever collegiate field goal attempt.
The bright spot on defense for the Chippewas was their three picks in the first thirty minutes. The defensive line put a lot of pressure on Schneider who made three bad passes. Anthony Tyus snagged one of the INTs, while Richard Kiel became the 25th Chippewa to grab two in one game.
UCF led 21-13 at the half.
The Golden Knights tacked on 10 more points in the third quarter. They got three from a 31-yard field goal from Matt Prater. UCF added one more touchdown when Dontavius Wilcox scored on a two-yard rush with 13 second remaining.
Derrick Vickers was at the helm at QB for the Chippewas. He was 10-for-24 and threw for 118 yards and one touchdown.
The Chippewas return home to Kelly/Shorts Stadium next Saturday when they host Eastern Michigan. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
