College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Central Florida 34, Penn State 31
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 14, 2013
Where: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania
Temperature: 67°
Head Official: Alex Kemp
Attendance: 92855

Central Florida 34, Penn State 31: Blake Bortles passed for 288 yards and three touchdowns and Storm Johnson rushed for 117 yards and a score as the visiting Knights held on for their first 3-0 start since 1988.

Bortles went 20-for-27 and hit J.J. Worton seven times for 101 yards and a touchdown. Josh Reese and Johnson also caught touchdown passes for Central Florida (3-0), which earned its first win against a Big Ten team.

Allen Robinson hauled in nine catches for 143 yards and a touchdown for Penn State (2-1), which saw the end of its four-game win streak dating back to last season. Zach Zwinak rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns but lost a fumble to kill a Lions drive, trailing by 10 with 5:43 to play in the fourth quarter.

Bortles threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes and Johnson ripped off a 58-yard touchdown run in the first half as Central Florida built a 21-7 lead before Sam Ficken's 47-yard field goal cut it to 21-10 at halftime. Bortles' 25-yard scoring pass to Reese padded the margin early in the third, but Zwinak punched in a pair of touchdowns while the Knights settled for field goals to trim it to 34-24.

Zwinak’s fumble stalled Penn State's rally attempt, but a bad punt snap gave the Nittany Lions the ball back on the Knights' 25 and set up Christian Hackenberg's 5-yard scoring toss to Robinson. The Knights iced it when Bortles connected with Worton for 13 yards to convert a first down, then ran out the clock.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Central Florida improved to 1-7 versus Big Ten teams. … Bortles' interception in the second quarter was his first in 232 attempts dating to last season. … Ficken came up short on a 57-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half, ending his school-record streak of 15 consecutive made field goals.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Central Florida   Penn State
Storm Johnson Player Zach Zwinak
17 Attempts 21
117 Yards 128
6.9 Avg Yards 6.1
1 Touchdowns 3
0 Long 0
Receiving
Central Florida   Penn State
J.J. Worton Player Allen Robinson
7 Receptions 9
101 Yards 143
14.4 Avg Yards 15.9
1 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Central Florida 507 219 288 4 2 0 1.0 1
Penn State 455 193 262 4 1 1 0.0 1