Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl:
Central Florida 38, Ball State 17 Final Stats Postgame Notes
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Ball State University football team (9-4) ended its season with a 38-17 loss to UCF (10-4) Friday night at the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg at Tropicana Field.
Ball State junior quarterback Keith Wenning passed for 217 yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to sophomore receiver Willie Snead. Sophomore running back Jahwan Edwards added 89 yards on the ground and was selected as the Cardinals' MVP for the game.
Senior placekicker Steven Schott connected on a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter, his 25th of the year, to move into a tie for first on the Cardinals' list for field goals in a single season.
UCF quarterback Blake Bortles threw for three scores and ran for another to help the Knights snap Ball State's six-game winning streak. Two of his TD tosses went to running back Latavius Murray, who also ran for another.
A scoring pass from Bortles to Murray on UCF's first possesion and a Murray touchdown run on its second staked the Knights to an early 13-0 lead. Ball State's Brandon Newman blocked the extra point following the second score.
Snead caught his first touchdown of the game early in the second quarter, but UCF responded with a Bortles TD run and two-point conversion and then added a touchdown with five seconds left in the first half on another Bortles-to-Murray hookup to take a 28-7 lead into the break.
Schott opened the second-half scoring with his field goal to cut the lead to 28-10, but Bortles threw another touchdown pass and the Knights added a field goal of their own to extend their advantage to 38-10 early in the fourth quarter.
Wenning found Snead for their second touchdown of the night with 5:26 left in the game, but UCF recovered the ensuing onside kick and then ran out the clock.
Snead's touchdown catch was his ninth of the season. He led the Cardinals with seven catches for 78 yards, while tight end Zane Fakes added six grabs for 57 yards.