War on I-4 Series Finale Ends in Thriller

                If the University of South Florida has its way, the War on I-4 is over, and USF won all of the battles en route to winning the war.  USF wants nothing to do with the University of Central Florida Knights in the future.  They would rather start a rivalry with the established schools in state such as Miami, Florida, and Florida State.

                The Bulls had a great rhythm on offense on their first drive, getting a touchdown after moving the ball swiftly and easily.  However, Joe Burnett tied it up on the kickoff with one of his many electrifying plays of the night.  The rest of the first half was a defensive struggle with both teams only getting another field goal.

                One of the big stories of the game was the penalties.  The Knights repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with personal fouls.   They were penalized for a total of 148 yards, while the Bulls were penalized for 58.

                To start the second half, the Bulls looked sharp on offense once again, scoring on two Cedric Hill receptions from Grothe in the third quarter.  With just under 5 minutes to go in the game, South Florida appeared to have the game wrapped up.  They ran the ball in an effort to run down the clock.

                After getting the ball back off of an interception, the UCF offense suddenly began to click, getting two touchdowns in the final 3 minutes to tie the game.  USF made one final drive, but the drive ended in a familiar way for the Bulls;  kicker Delbert Alvarado missed a long field goal attempt to end the game, which sent it into overtime.

                In overtime, the Bulls started out by going nowhere until a 3^rd-down touchdown pass from Grothe to Taurus Johnson.  When Central Florida got the ball, they got to within 4^th and 1, but a false start penalty on Ronnie Weaver brought the ball back to the 21.  Quarterback Michael Greco scrambled and ran to within a foot of the first down line, ending any hopes of another Big East upset, at least for this week.  Next up for the Bulls: a Friday night home game against the Kansas Jayhawks in what should be another thriller.  Meanwhile, Central Florida will travel to Boston College.

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