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and that was just to tie things up. To pull off a comeback win, they were going to need more than three points. And at some point, they were also going to need a defensive stop. That part was the most problematic. Penn State fell to the Knights, 34-31, primarily because it couldn't stop highly touted quarterback Blake Bortles and his impressive supporting cast. Problematic is a pretty good adjective with which to describe the UCF offense. Bortles completed 20 of 27 passes for 288 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, and the Knights added 219 rushing yards (5.8 per carry) including 117 from Storm Johnson. "[Bortles] is a heck of a player, and they've got a good football team," coach Bill O'Brien said. "You have to give a lot of credit to them. They're well-coached, and we made too many mistakes tonight and they capitalized on them." The Nittany Lions had fought back from a 28-10 third-quarter deficit, countering a pair of Shawn Moffitt field goals with a pair of Zach Zwinak touchdown runs to make the score 34-24. After Robinson's 5-yard touchdown catch, the Lions looked to be in position to complete an unlikely comeback. But their offense never got back on the field. They only had one timeout left, and when Bortles threw to J.J. Worton for 13 yards and a first down, the Knights were able to run out the clock. "They did a good job," O'Brien said. "We didn't tackle very well, and they blocked us. We made some plays, but give them credit. Bortles, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound junior, was being hyped before the season as one of the country's top quarterbacks, and he's done nothing to contradict those early appraisals in his first three games. The Nittany Lions certainly had no answer for him on UCF's game-opening possession. The Knights converted three third downs on the drive, which consumed nearly half of the first quarter and ended with a 4-yard touchdown catch by a wide-open Johnson. The Nittany Lions tied the score, 7-7, with an efficient 77-yard drive of their own, which ended with a 4-yard run by Zwinak. But UCF needed only two plays to regain its lead, as Johnson S e P t e m b e R SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 8:13 UCF Johnson, Storm 4-yard pass from Bortles, Blake (Moffitt, Shawn kick) 4:26 PSU Zwinak, Zach 4-yard run (Ficken, Sam kick) 13 plays, 89 yards, TOP 6:47.......................................................................7-0 10 plays, 77 yards, TOP 3:41.......................................................................7-7 2ND 13:57 UCF Johnson, Storm 58-yard run (Moffitt, Shawn kick) 2 plays, 64 yards, TOP 0:48.......................................................................14-7 8:51 UCF Worton, J.J. 5-yard pass from Bortles, Blake (Moffitt, Shawn kick) 8 plays, 89 yards, TOP 3:13.......................................................................21-7 3:33 PSU Ficken, Sam 47-yard field goal 12 plays, 56 yards, TOP 5:14..................................................................21-10 3RD 8:46 UCF Reese, Josh 25-yard pass from Bortles, Blake (Moffitt, Shawn kick) 7:23 PSU Zwinak, Zach 9-yard run (Ficken, Sam kick) 5 plays, 82 yards, TOP 2:23.....................................................................28-10 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:17.....................................................................28-17 2:30 UCF Moffitt, Shawn 22-yard field goal 8 plays, 66 yards, TOP 4:41.....................................................................31-17 4TH 13:35 PSU Zwinak, Zach 1-yard run (Ficken, Sam kick) 7 plays, 81 yards, TOP 3:50.....................................................................31-24 8:10 UCF Moffitt, Shawn 36-yard field goal 10 plays, 53 yards, TOP 5:16...................................................................34-24 2:51 PSU Robinson, Allen 5-yard pass from Hackenberg, Christian (Ficken, Sam kick) 3 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:57.....................................................................34-31 scooted wide right for a 58-yard touchdown. Things got worse for Penn State when Jeff Godfrey took a direct snap and sprinted 49 yards to set up a lunging 5yard touchdown catch by Worton. The Nittany Lions got a 47-yard field goal in the second quarter, but they trailed by 11 points at halftime, and things never really improved. Not enough to lift the Lions to their third victory of the season. "They're a good, tough football team, " offensive guard John Urschel said. "They've got good fundamentals. They're very well-coached and they played very well. They outplayed us today." Tenth-year UCF coach George O'Leary called the victory "the biggest since I've been here," and in retrospect, maybe it wasn't so surprising. The Nittany Lions may have had linebacker Mike Hull back after he missed the Eastern Michigan game with a leg injury, and they may have been favored by the oddsmakers. 1 4 , 2 0 1 3 2 But the Knights were easily the best team Penn State has faced this young season, and Bortles was able to capitalize on opportunities that went unexploited in the first two weeks of the season. In improving to 3-0, the Knights totaled an astonishing 507 yards of offense. So now the Nittany Lions (2-1) will look to regroup this Saturday against Kent State. The Golden Flashes were pounded at LSU, 45-13, on Saturday night, falling to 1-2. While Penn State had some offensive problems against UCF, notably a 2-for-8 third-down conversion rate, there were also a few developments that it can surely build on. Most impressive was another big night from Hackenberg, who went 21 of 28 for 262 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. Said O'Brien, "We've just gotta regroup tomorrow and figure out what we can do better. One thing I know about the guys in that locker room is that they never quit. It's a lot of fun to coach these kids, and we'll do better. We'll keep improving. " b l u e w h i t e o n l i n e . c o m

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