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GAINESVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- Central Florida had problems with Drew Brees and the passing attack of Purdue and the Golden Knights appear headed for another nightmare when they face the vaunted offense of No. 4 Florida. Central Florida (0-1) allowed Brees to throw for 273 yards and four touchdowns in a 47-13 home loss to Purdue. The Golden Knights desperately missed quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who made them into an offensive threat the previous four seasons but was the 11th overall pick in the NFL draft. After losing just two games last season, Central Florida looks poised to match that total as many games into this campaign. It is a five-touchdown underdog. The Gators (1-0) cruised to a 55-26 thumping of Western Michigan in their season opener. Even though the defense was not up to snuff, allowing 405 passing yards by Tim Lester, the Gators offense could not be stopped. "Even though the defense did give up a ton of passing yards, they only gave up two touchdowns," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. "Even though we bent a little bit, our guys kept them out of the end zone pretty well. In the second half, the defense did not give up any points. That was encouraging." Doug Johnson passed for 282 yards and overcame a pair of interceptions with four touchdowns. Earnest Graham, a freshman making his first start, ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries as Florida rang up 629 yards of total offense. "I don't know if we can emphasize it (the running game) any more," Spurrier said. "When Fred Taylor was here, we were a decent running team. Last year was just a year that we didn't run the ball well. It was a combination of things, everything." "We know Earnest can run the ball and they were playing a soft big zone last game," Johnson said. "We always knew we could run the ball so we kept handing the ball off and running the same play and we would get 10, 11, 15 yards a pop, so if that's going to keep working we might as well keep handing the ball off. In order to be successful you have to be able to run the ball. The two games we lost last year we didn't run the ball well." The state foes never have met and it is the first time the Gators have faced a Florida-based opponent other than Miami or Florida State since a 45-0 victory over Stetson October 10, 1953. The Gators have won a current national-best 28 straight games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and are 54-2, including 23-1 outside of the conference, at "The Swamp" since 1990.
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