First Round Tampa: Knight-mare ending for UCF; Mizzou wins on last minute fumble recovery run, 41-40

Central Florida looked all ready to pad the AAC's resume with a win over SEC division champ Missouri, and earn a trip downstate to the Orange Bowl to play top-seeded Florida State.  The Gatorade bucket was poised, all they needed was to hold on to their six point lead.  But then, the dream ended in a dramatic, Knight-marish turn.  All-SEC defensive end Michael Sam knocked the ball from the hands of UCF running back Storm Johnson, and Mizzou's Shane Ray picked it up and returned the fumble 73 yards for a game-winning, Tampa-shocking touchdown.

"All the drama you don't want as a coach in the fourth quarter," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "We had a lot of adversity, and our team handled the adversity well and made the plays we needed to win. I wanted that Orange Bowl really bad, wanted it bad for them."

But certainly, tenth seeded Central Florida showed they belonged at this level of competition.  UCF started the scoring with on a Storm Johnson 11 yard TD scamper, to take the first lead of the game.  Missouri tied it up on a Henry Josey 3 yard run, and the first quarter ended 7-7.

Missouri brought in their backup QB to change things up, and scored on a Marcus Lucas 24 yard pass from Maty Mauk, and held a second quarter 14-7 lead.  UCF matched it on another Johnson TD run from the 2, to tie the game.  On the last play of the first half, Tiger kicker Andrew Baggett's 35 yard field goal gave Missouri the 17-14 lead at the break.

But Missouri's offense struggled in the third quarter, and UCF added two Shawn Moffitt field goals to take the 20-17 lead going into the final frame.

The sunny day in the 80's in Tampa was only just about to really heat up in the fourth quarter.  UCF kicked another field goal to extend the lead to six.  Missouri answered with a Henry Josey 25 yard run to take the 24-23 lead. 

All game, the Knights receivers excelled at maneuvering through traffic after the catch and blocking for their peers downfield, and this was key to UCF's next TD on Blake Bortles 50 yard pass to Rannell Hall to grab the lead back.  Missouri cut the lead on a Baggett 46 yard FG, and the UCF lead was 30-27.  UCF came back with another impressive Hall reception from Bortles from 34 yards out, and were ahead 37-27.    Another Knight field goal put Central Florida up by 13.  An UCF interception return for TD was called back on a controversial pass interference call, but UCF still seemed to have the game in hand. 

Josey's 16 yard run cut the lead to 40-34 with three minutes left, but UCF controlled the ball in the final minutes.  But with 55 seconds on the clock, Ray's fumble recovery run sent a shock wave through the crowd, as Missouri won a game on a finish that will go down in tournament history to match the Oklahoma-Boise State First Round masterpiece.

Missouri will play Florida State in the Orange Bowl.