ORLANDO - Tavaris Capers returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown and Central Florida's ground game made up for the absence of quarterback Ryan Schneider in a 19-10 win over Buffalo on Saturday night.
UCF rushed for 298 yards, second most in coach Mike Kruczek's five-plus seasons. Alex Haynes ran for a career-high 165 yards. Quarterback Jon Rivera, making his first start, rushed for 89 yards and completed 6-of-14 for 59 yards.
Schneider's string of 34 consecutive starts was snapped after a shoulder injury in last week's loss at Kent State. This was the second time in the past 13 seasons a UCF quarterback missed a game because of injury.
Buffalo lost its 16th straight, the program's longest skid since dropping 18 in a row from 1998 to 2000. The Bulls had 216 yards in the first half, but only 55 in the second. Dave Dawson led Buffalo with 83 rushing yards.
UCF's turnover woes continued early when Dontavius Wilcox fumbled at the goal line on what would have been the game's first score. The Knights entered the game with a takeaway margin of minus-15, worst in the nation.
FAMU 28, JACKSON ST. 14: Paul Sharpe, who had scored one touchdown in his first 11 games, scored three for the Rattlers in the Circle City Classic at Indianapolis. Sharpe scored twice on 1-yard runs in the first quarter and caught a 4-yard TD in the third.
Six turnovers, including five on lost fumbles, frustrated the Tigers offense. Jackson State was in danger of going scoreless for the first time in 165 games before Tim Manning caught a 4-yard TD from Robert Kent with 11:07 left.
Officials announced an RCA Dome sellout of 58,198 for the annual battle of black colleges - almost 3,000 above the 55,506 capacity listed by the NFL's Colts.
MORGAN ST. 31, B-CC 24 (OT): LeJominck Washington's 2-yard touchdown run in overtime lifted visiting Morgan State. Washington had four touchdowns for Morgan State, which snapped a five-game losing streak against the Wildcats.
Larry Davis intercepted Bethune-Cookman's Allen Suber to end it. Suber rushed for two touchdowns and passed for one, but completed just 3-of-17. Washington accounted for most of the Bears' 415 yards, throwing for 233 and rushing for 131.
Washington found Tommy Manus in the end zone for a 49-yard touchdown with 1:58 left in the third quarter, then rushed for the 2-point conversion to tie it at 24.
FAU 27, TEXAS ST. 14: Anthony Jackson and Doug Parker had fourth-quarter TD runs, helping host Florida Atlantic rally. Anthony Crissinger-Hill had seven catches for 160 yards and a touchdown for the Owls, who won their third straight. Terrell Harris had two touchdown runs for Texas State, but the Bobcats mustered just 66 rushing yards on 23 attempts, well below their 171.8-yard average entering the game. Jackson scored on a 10-yard run on the first play of the fourth to put Florida Atlantic ahead for good.
GA. SOUTHERN 37, FIU 35: In a game that featured a combined 1,005 offensive yards, Trey Hunter hit Teddy Craft with a 33-yard pass with 2:33 left to lift the Eagles. Florida International, a second-year program seeking its first road win, trailed 28-7 with two minutes left in the first half before rallying to tie with 5:36 to play when Harold Leath hauled in a pass at the 35, then waltzed untouched into the end zone. Leath had eight catches for 192 yards. Josh Padrick completed 24-of-48 for 370 yards and three TDs for FIU. Tailback Rashod Smith became the first Panther to rush for 1,000 career yards; he has 1,008.
DRAKE 40, JACKSONVILLE 34: Connor Jostes threw four TDs, three to Jason Jones, for host Drake. Drake led 13-0 and 20-7 but could not put Jacksonville away until Jostes hit Jones on a 25-yard TD with 2:02 left. Jacksonville's Richard Gayle caught a 14-yard touchdown from Mike Sturgill with 12 seconds left, but Drake recovered the on-side kick and ran out the clock. Largo's Emmett Hunter carried 27 times for 182 yards and scored twice for the Dolphins.
