ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Central Florida jumped out to a 23-0 halftime lead, and then held off a second-half rally to beat Florida International 33-20.
Blake Bortles threw for 251 yards and two TDs for UCF (2-1).
Darian Mallary had 71 yards rushing and scored twice for FIU (1-2).
UCF was up 23-0 at halftime after Bortles threw TD passes of 4 yards to Billy Giovanetti and 16 yards to Rannell Hall. Brynn Harvey added a 4-yard scoring run, and J.J. Worton had a 10-yard scoring reception from Jeff Godfrey for the Knights' only TD in the second half.
FIU, which had only two first downs and 26 yards total offense in the first half, rolled up 280 yards and 20 points in the final two quarters. Mallary scored on runs of 28 and 4 yards and Kedrick Rhodes caught a 5-yard scoring pass from quarterback Jake Medlock.
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| Scoring Summary |
| UCF | Billy Giovanetti 4 yd pass from Blake Bortles (Shawn Moffitt kick) |
| UCF | Team safety |
| UCF | Rannell Hall 16 yd pass from Blake Bortles (Shawn Moffitt kick) |
| UCF | Brynn Harvey 4 yd run (Shawn Moffitt kick) |
| FIU | Kedrick Rhodes 5 yd pass from Jake Medlock (Jack Griffin kick) |
| UCF | J.J. Worton 10 yd pass from Jeff Godfrey (Shawn Moffitt kick) |
| FIU | Darian Mallary 28 yd run (Jack Griffin kick) |
| FIU | Darian Mallary 4 yd run (failed 2pt pass) |
| UCF | Shawn Moffitt 23 yd FG |
| Team Stats | ||
| FIU | UCF | |
| First Downs | 15 | 21 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 3-13 | 9-15 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 1-3 | 0-0 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 63-306 | 72-431 |
| Rushes-Yds | 34-152 | 40-170 |
| Passing Yds | 154 | 261 |
| Kick Return Yds | 48 | 119 |
| Punt Return Yds | 1 | 48 |
| Passes | 13-29-0 | 21-32-1 |
| Punts | 6-243 | 5-195 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 3-1 | 2-1 |
| Penalties-Yds | 2-14 | 5-59 |
| Time of Poss. | 24:37 | 35:23 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| FIU: Darian Mallary 11-71, Kedrick Rhodes 11-48, Jeremiah Harden 1-36, Shane Coleman 2-7, Loranzo Hammonds 1-5, Jake Medlock 7-2, Team 1--17 |
| UCF: Storm Johnson 18-78, Brynn Harvey 16-73, Jeff Godfrey 2-19, Blake Bortles 2-1, Team 1-0, Rob Calabrese 1--1 |
| PASSING |
| FIU: Jake Medlock 13-28-154-0, Loranzo Hammonds 0-1-0-0 |
| UCF: Blake Bortles 20-30-251-1, Jeff Godfrey 1-1-10-0, Rob Calabrese 0-1-0-0 |
| RECEIVING |
| FIU: Darian Mallary 4-49, Wayne Times 3-12, Ya'keem Griner 1-26, Willis Wright 1-24, Jacob Younger 1-21, Akil Dan-Fodio 1-13, Kedrick Rhodes 1-5, Jairus Williams 1-4 |
| UCF: J.J. Worton 5-94, Billy Giovanetti 3-31, Brynn Harvey 3-26, Jeff Godfrey 3-26, Quincy McDuffie 3-13, Rannell Hall 2-63, Rob Calabrese 1-8, Storm Johnson 1-0 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Florida International | 8th Sun Belt | 2-6 | 3-9 |
| UCF | 2nd Conference USA East | 7-2 | 10-4 |
