Central Florida couldn't muster enough offense to beat Miami in a 20-14 loss on Saturday, but the Knights secondary made enough plays to keep things interesting.

The Knights, who ranked 102nd in the country in pass defense entering the game, held UM quarterback Robert Marve to 8-of-19 passing for 74 yards and intercepted him three times, including a pick that Johnell Neal returned 62 yards for a touchdown.

The three interceptions brought UCF's season total to 13, which is among the most in the nation.

''I'm glad because that's how we're scoring touchdowns,'' UCF coach George O'Leary said. ``I think the big thing is they practice hard. I'm real proud of our defense. I think that we put [our defense] in some awfully tough situations today and too often out there. It seems like I'm always apologizing to the defense.''

While the Knights have been adept at jumping routes and making plays on the ball all season, they had also been victimized by big plays before shutting down UM's passing attack Saturday. The Hurricanes' lone big strike came on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Marve to Travis Benjamin in the first quarter.

UCF's secondary set the tone early when Sha'reff Rashad intercepted Marve on the third play from scrimmage.

After the Knights fell behind 10-0, Neal stepped in front of a pass intended for Benjamin for his third interception of the season and sprinted 62 yards for a touchdown.

''I thought it was a completion,'' Marve said. ``I thought we had the ball, the guy jumped it, made a good play. He took off with it and it was just one of those things. They were jumping the routes. They chose right on that play.''

Rashad picked off Marve again late in the second quarter.

Unfortunately for the defense, the Knights were dominated on offense and special teams.

The defense held UM to 216 yards of total offense, but the offense gained only 78 yards and special teams miscues helped account for 13 UM points.

A low snap and blown blocking assignment in the first quarter led to a blocked punt by UM's Richard Gordon, which put Miami at UCF's 25-yard line and led to a 35-yard field goal by kicker Matt Bosher to put UM ahead 10-0.

In the fourth quarter, a snap over the head of UCF punter Blake Clingan resulted in a safety to give Miami a 12-7 lead.

Minutes later, return man Joe Burnett let a punt graze his chest and drop through his hands. Miami receiver Sam Shields recovered the ball at the UCF 5-yard line. UM running back Graig Cooper ran for a touchdown on the next play, giving Miami enough cushion to hold on for the win.

Burnett returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, but UCF's offense couldn't put together a drive to win the game.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@