ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- Georgia (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) got away with one Saturday.

	Jasper Sanks piled up 147 yards and a touchdown in Georgia's win over UCF.

Central Florida, a 28-point underdog, missed the extra point after an apparent game-tying touchdown with 5:21 remaining, allowing the Bulldogs to escape with a 24-23 victory.

"We took this one for granted," admitted Jasper Sanks, who rushed for a career-high 147 yards and a touchdown. "The luck was in our favor."

Trailing 24-17, Central Florida closed within a point when Vic Penn threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Page Sessoms. But Javier Beorlegui's extra point deflected off the left upright.

"I just missed it," he said. "I guess we'll see what went wrong in the film."

The Golden Knights (0-4) still had a chance to pull off the shocking upset, driving to the Georgia 20 in the final minute. But two costly penalties, including a questionable offensive pass interference call, knocked Central Florida out of field-goal range.

Georgia (3-0) intercepted Penn's desperation pass on the final play of the game.

The Bulldogs broke a 17-17 tie on Quincy Carter's 6-yard touchdown pass to Michael Greer with 9:13 left in the third quarter. Hap Hines added the extra point, which turned out to be crucial.

Penn kept Central Florida in the game, completing 27 of 46 passes for 287 yards. After an early 14-3 deficit, the Golden Knights had no trouble moving the ball against their Southeastern Conference opponent, piling up 30 first downs and 441 yards while holding a nearly 11-minute lead in time of possession.

"We're not nearly good enough on defense to play in our league," coach Jim Donnan conceded. "That's probably the understatement of the year. But I will tell you this: There's a lot of teams in our league that would like to have that (Central Florida) offense."

Hines kicked a 54-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, equaling his career best, while Beorlegui missed two field goal attempts in addition to the extra point. Kendrell Bell blocked a 27-yard chip shot in the first quarter and Beorlegui was well short on a 50-yarder with 12:22 remaining in the game.

Central Florida drove 89 yards to get in position to at least force overtime. On second-and-goal at the 5, Penn flipped his touchdown pass to Sessoms, but the celebration was short-lived when Beorlegui failed on the extra point.

To the Golden Knights' credit, they didn't give up. After forcing Georgia to punt and taking over at their 19 with 1:41 left, they quickly moved down the field.

Penn converted a fourth-and-3 with a 16-yard pass to Kenny Clark, followed with another 16-yard pass to Tyson Hinshaw, then broke loose on a 22-yard run, sliding to a stop at the Georgia 20.

Central Florida spiked the ball with 22 seconds left, then decided to take a shot at the end zone rather than setting up another field goal try. Penn threw up a pass that appeared uncatchable along the left side of the end zone, but Clark was called for offensive pass interference against Georgia cornerback Jeff Harris. The penalty cost the Golden Knights 15 yards.

"I really didn't think he would call that, if he called anything," said Clark, who had 10 catches for 119 yards. "Our coaches in the (press) box said (Georgia's) coaches upstairs were amazed the officials made that call."

Central Florida coach Mike Kruczek was livid, coming on the field to argue the decision.

"I felt it was defensive pass interference because he (Harris) had no idea where the ball was and was faceguarding him," Kruczek said. "It was a horrible call. ... 86,000 saw the same thing."

Penn followed with a 9-yard pass to Hinshaw, but Central Florida was penalized again, this time for an illegal formation. Penn was then sacked by Richard Seymour and Marcus Stroud with three seconds remaining, leaving only enough time for a final pass that wound up well short of the end zone.

Jamie Henderson picked it off for Georgia as time ran out. Central Florida completed the most difficult September schedule in the country without a victory. The Golden Knights already had lost to No. 13 Purdue, No. 10 Georgia Tech and No. 3 Florida.

"This team has had four weeks of frustration," Kruczek said. "I hope they put it to use in our next five home games."

Georgia scored on its first two possession, Carter throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to Terrence Edwards and Sanks running for an 8-yard TD to give the Bulldogs their 14-3 lead less than 11 minutes into the game. But they struggled the rest of the day to put away the Golden Knights.

Central Florida stunned the sellout crowd at Sanford Stadium by scoring twice in a 40-second span of the second quarter.

Sessoms ran 5 yards for a touchdown, then Ricot Joseph blocked the first punt of Georgia freshman Jonathan Kilgo's career. Thad Ward scooped up the all and returned it 6 yards to the end zone to put the Golden Knights ahead 17-14.

Hines' long field goal gave the Bulldogs a tie at halftime.