3 takeaways: Timmy McClain throws 2 TDs, UCF rolls past Villanova in non-conference finale

ORLANDO — Timmy McClain shined in his debut UCF start, and the Knights completed a perfect nonconference run with ease Saturday night.

McClain, filling in for the injured John Rhys Plumlee, completed 20 of 28 passes for 321 yards and a couple of touchdowns as the Knights crushed Villanova 48-14 at FBC Mortgage Stadium. The redshirt sophomore quarterback added 44 yards on the ground, and led UCF (3-0) to points on eight of 11 drives in which he played.

"It's definitely been a long journey, a lot of hard work and dedication I've put in to this point," said McClain, a Sanford native who started nine games for rival South Florida in the 2021 season, transferred to UCF last August and spent last year on the Knights' scout team. "Going into this game, I just had to execute plays. I was just staying ready and waiting on my time, praying that I'd get my time. I showed up tonight, so it was pretty good.

"I did have a little bit of butterflies but, as the game started slowing down, I started getting more comfortable. I started getting back to my rhythm, myself, who I am, what I do best, really."

'We recruited him for this moment': 5 things to know about UCF quarterback Timmy McClain

RJ Harvey, fully healed from a hip injury aggravated last week against Boise State, ran 14 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Kobe Hudson caught six of nine targets for 147 yards, and captains Jason Johnson and Josh Celiscar shared the team lead with six tackles apiece.

Of course, the difficulty ramps up next week when the Knights begin Big 12 play for the first time. UCF travels to defending conference champion Kansas State, stunned earlier in the day by Missouri on a 61-yard field goal as time expired. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. on Sept. 23.

Kansas State entered the week ranked 15th in The Associated Press' Top 25 poll.

Here are three takeaways from an expectedly routine result for the Knights.

Timmy McClain grows into the game, delivers 2 TD passes

Logging his first competitive snaps in 22 months, when he nearly led USF to an upset win against the Knights, McClain settled in as the night wore on. Afforded plenty of time by a slightly reshifted offensive line, with Adrian Medley starting at left guard in place of Bula Schmidt, McClain found secondary targets in his progression and attacked the intermediate and deep thirds.

His best throw, unquestionably, was his first touchdown pass as a Knight. Up 24-0 with just over five minutes left in the second quarter, McClain lofted a perfect 25-yard strike to Javon Baker near the back left corner of the end zone.

While not the outright rushing threat Plumlee is, McClain picked up chunk yardage with his legs. He had gains of 15 and 19 yards to move the chains twice on third down on UCF's second drive, capped off by Jordan McDonald's 1-yard Wildcat plunge.

"We wanted to let him run our offense, and develop within the offense," UCF coach Gus Malzahn said. "We really felt like he did that. … There wasn't a whole lot of, what I'd call, special plays. We were pretty vanilla overall, but I think he did a good job. Had a couple explosive pass plays that were really good to see."

McClain will remain the Knights' starter going forward until Plumlee returns. On Monday, Malzahn said the fifth-year senior is expected to miss a "few weeks" with an unspecified right leg injury, though it would not require surgery.

True freshman Dylan Rizk, promoted to second-string, checked in for the final two offensive drives and went 4 of 5 for 28 yards.

Matthew Alexander, Nikai Martinez join the party on night of firsts

While McClain's first start, and touchdown tosses, provided the evening's headlines, several other Knights enjoyed collegiate firsts as well.

Matthew Alexander logged his first sack on a jailbreak pass rush late in the first quarter. The Knights hounded Villanova quarterback Connor Watkins, who set a school record last week for the fewest completions in a 300-yard passing performance.

Though his 2-yard rushing TD broke up the Knights' shutout bid with 13:42 left in regulation, Watkins went 9-of 23 passing for 144 yards and an interception, the first for Apopka native Nikai Martinez.

Martinez, moved to safety from nickel cornerback ahead of the 2023 season, read Watkins the whole way, undercut a deep throw intended for Daniel Lopes and returned the pick all the way to Villanova's 2-yard line. McDonald plowed ahead three plays later for a second goal-line TD carry.

"I was happy for them, tapping them on their helmet like, 'Good job, man'" Celiscar said. "You see the growth, you see how they got better each and every spring and fall. Nikai and Matt have taken a lot of steps. Those guys making plays today, I was happy and excited for them."

Jaylon Griffin capped the night of milestones with his first touchdown reception, a 36-yard slant from McClain in the fourth quarter. The redshirt senior, who joined the team in 2021 from Kilgore (Texas) College, had six career receptions prior to Saturday.

Entering Big 12 play, UCF is halfway to bowl eligibility

Obviously the Knights have loftier goals; Malzahn and numerous players stated intentions to win the Big 12 outright in their first year. But achieving bowl eligibility would be an important step in UCF's Power Five progression.

The Knights handled business in non-conference play, sandwiching blowout victories of Kent State and Villanova with a walkoff thriller at Boise State — one which snapped the Broncos' 21-game winning streak in home openers. Colton Boomer, named the Big 12's Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday, drilled a 40-yard game-winning field goal at the gun.

Eight of the Big 12's 10 holdovers appeared in a bowl game last year, including four with sub-.500 records in league play (Oklahoma State, Baylor, Kansas and Oklahoma). TCU, of course, made the College Football Playoff and advanced to the national championship game.

"Now it's conference, and this is where everything turns up," Malzahn said. "Our guys understand that. We're going to the defending champs on their home turf, another really tough place to play."

UCF has been invited to a bowl game for each of the last seven seasons, including a pair of New Year's Six contests — the 2018 Peach Bowl and the 2019 Fiesta Bowl. The Knights have alternated losses and wins in those seven games, highlighted by the Peach Bowl triumph over Auburn to complete a perfect season in 2017 and the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl victory over in-state rival Florida.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football: 3 takeaways from win over Villanova