Calabrese shines as Knights cruise

In a matter of 15 minutes, junior quarterback Rob Calabrese silenced his critics — at least for one game.

Calabrese guided the Knights offense to a touchdown in its first two possessions as UCF defeated South Dakota 38-7 in Saturday night's season opener at Bright House Networks Stadium.

The Knights took a 7-0 lead on Jonathan Davis' 1-yard touchdown run. The offense moved the ball fluidly from its 25-yard line with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ate up more than five minutes.

"I thought, offensively, we executed very well for the first game," head coach George O'Leary said.

Calabrese was nearly perfect. It was a complete contrast from his opening performance last year against Samford, in which he threw for 28 yards.

Instead, Calabrese showed confidence and poise in the pocket. He waited for the play to develop instead of panicking and making errors.

"He managed the offense really well, made the right checks and threw against some pressure," O'Leary said about Calabrese's performance. "I was happy to see him play well and, hopefully, he will grow with some confidence."

Calabrese showed why he was named the starter ahead of freshman Jeff Godfrey. Calabrese went 12 for 15 for 176 yards and a touchdown, the best season-opening performance by a UCF quarterback since 2006, when Steven Moffett went 15 for 20 for 199 yards and three touchdowns.

Calabrese went 9 for 9 for 140 yards in the first half.

His touchdown pass to junior A.J. Guyton — who was all alone in the end zone — came right before halftime.

Guyton had his third career 100-yard reception game, setting a career high with 127 yards on eight catches.

"I was pretty confident going into the game, but this is just helping me out so much more," Calabrese said. "Everyone did a great job and helped me out today."

UCF had a balanced attack, with both the run and pass game eclipsing 200 yards.

Davis was a big contributor to that, rushing for 107 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

Davis surpassed his career-high of 76 yards against Tulane last season.

Davis responded positively as the starting back. He had bursts of 5 or more yards throughout the game, something that UCF will look for when setting up the pass.

The question of when Godfrey would play was answered in the first drive of the second quarter. Godfrey nearly threw an interception, but settled down.

He went 6 for 7 for 65 yards, completing his first collegiate touchdown pass to sophomore Quincy McDuffie in the fourth quarter.

UCF gained 472 yards, the most in a season opener since 1998, on the road against Louisiana Tech.

The defense gave up 136 rushing yards and UCF improved to 20-12 in season openers and can now focus on NC State.