McDermott leads SMU to 38-17 victory over UCF

DALLAS (AP) — J.J. McDermott threw for 358 yards and two touchdowns to lead SMU to a 38-17 victory against UCF on Saturday.

Cole Beasley caught 10 passes for 134 yards and a TD, and Zach Line rushed for two scores for the Mustangs (5-1, 3-0 Conference USA).

UCF (3-3, 1-1) closed to within 24-10 early in the fourth quarter on Jeff Godfrey’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Josh Reese. But on the next play from scrimmage, McDermott hit Der’rikk Thompson with a 72-yard scoring pass.

McDermott was 20 of 31 against the Golden Knights, who came into the game as the only FBS team that had not allowed a passing touchdown.

He remained undefeated as the first-string quarterback. McDermott came off the bench in SMU’s season-opening loss against Texas A&M and has started since, throwing for 1,064 yards and nine TDs the last three games.

Godfrey was 23 of 32 for 231 yards.

Richard Crawford returned a second-quarter punt 92 yards for a touchdown for SMU.