The UCF Knights had a week to stew over the first conference defeat in nearly three years.

In their first five drives, the Knights scored touchdowns to stake a 35-6 halftime lead. Dillon Gabriel threw for a touchdown and ran for one more and the Knights got their run game going behind Greg McCrae and Bentavious Thompson. UCF seemed ready to coast to a victory.

But these Knights are still struggling to bring the intensity out of the locker room. And the Pirates made them sweat.

East Carolina blocked a punt on its way to a short touchdown and then turned a fumble into another touchdown drive to close within 12 points. The Knights restaked a lead as Gabriel found Tre Nixon for a 53-yard touchdown in the third quarter as the Knights coasted to a 41-28 victory.

UCF totaled 611 yards of offense. Gabriel threw for 365 yards with two touchdown passes. Gabriel Davis caught nine passes for 164 yards, catching two touchdown passes to bring his season total up to 10. Otis Anderson led a cadre of backs with 80 rushing yards.

But the Knights defense had their struggles, giving up 483 total yards despite a scorching start. East Carolina kept the pressure on UCF with quarterback Holton Ahlers passing for 313 yards and rushing for 47 more. The Knights kept a distance but certainly looked shaky in the second half, tallying only six points in the second half.

UCF returned to the winning side of the ledger as the team hopes to build a new dominant win streak. But the Knights will have more work to do against the tougher teams in the AAC.

The Knights travel to Philadelphia next week to take on Temple in a critical conference showdown.