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GAMEDAY

Central Florida QB is as good as advertised

By Terry Douglass / The Independent

LINCOLN - In the aftermath of Nebraska's 38-24 victory over Central Florida Saturday, there was little doubt Central Florida quarterback Daunte Culpepper was as good as advertised.

The Golden Knights junior completed 24 of 35 passes against the Cornhusker defense for 318 yards and one touchdown. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Culpepper also rushed for 59 yards, but finished with a net rushing total of 34 yards as he was sacked three times for 25 yards lost.

"I think Culpepper showed all the reasons why everyone has been talking about him and is so high on him," Nebraska All-American rush end Grant Wistrom said. "He's one of the best quarterbacks in the country. You're not going to find too many guys with his size and speed and with his arm."

Culpepper, who received plenty of preseason acclaim from such publications as The Sporting News and Football News, showed he was for real early and often against the Blackshirts. His 10-yard touchdown run with 1 minute, 16 seconds left in the first quarter gave Central Florida, a 42-point underdog, a 7-0 lead on the No. 6-ranked Cornhuskers.

He later added a 4-yard scoring pass to pull the Golden Knights to within 31-24 with 7:17 remaining in the game.

Nebraska defensive tackle Jason Peter, who was in on two of three sacks registered against Culpepper, also had high praise for the quarterback.

"Everything they say about him is true," Peter said. "He's a great quarterback. I thought we hit him well at times, but he just kept it there. He can stay in their and take the hits and he can run it too."

Coming into Saturday's game at Nebraska, Culpepper had nearly 5,200 yards passing in 24 games, ranking him third on UCF's all-time passing charts. With more performances like Saturday, Culpepper should easily achieve the 213.7 yards passing per game average he needs to become the top Golden Knights passer of all time - if he chooses to stay in school.

"Defensively, we gave up a lot of yards passing and we didn't get to the quarterback a whole lot," Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said. "We put some pressure on him, but they did a good job of protecting him. Culpepper is an excellent player. He's got experience and he puts the ball where he needs to."

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Statistics, scoring summary

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