Damon Ferguson Jr. ran for his team’s only touchdown Saturday and the Pittsburgh defense almost completely stifled visiting Central Florida during a 12-7 nonconference win.
The Panthers (2-0) limited the Knights to 206 total yards, with just 20 coming on the ground. Quarterback Alonza Barnett III tried to take up slack, going 20 of 31 for 186 yards and his team’s only touchdown, but it wasn’t enough.
Pitt quarterback Mason Heintschel, who tossed seven touchdown passes in the season opener last week against Miami (Ohio), completed 18 of 29 passes for 212 yards. The Panthers managed 315 total yards but couldn’t find the same rhythm that they had in last week’s 59-14 blowout.
Still, Pitt did just enough in the first half, when it scored all its points. The Panthers got on the board with four seconds left in the first quarter on a 28-yard field goal by Antonio Chadha, capping an 18-play, 83-yard drive that lasted 7:03.
The Panthers’ defense got two more points with 7:24 remaining in the half when Braylan Lovelace forced Barnett into an intentional grounding call in the end zone. That came three plays after Gabe Russo punted the Knights back to their 7.
Pitt’s offense finally made it into the end zone just before the half ended. Ferguson did most of the work with a catch for 14 yards and four runs for 25 yards, including a 13-yarder with 28 seconds on the clock for a 12-0 halftime lead.
UCF (1-1) couldn’t get on the board until just 2:53 remained in the game. Barnett used his legs to scramble for a pair of first downs before employing his arm to hit Waden Charles for a 19-yard touchdown pass.
The Knights got a quick three-and-out and got the ball back with 2:24 left and a chance to snap a nine-game road losing streak that dated back to September of 2024. But on fourth-and-4 at their 28, backup quarterback Keyone Jenkins was sacked for a 2-yard loss by DeMarco Ward and Jeremiah Marcelin to end it.
