ORLANDO, Fla. -- McKenzie Milton threw for four touchdowns and 360 yards, and Central Florida routed Florida International 61-17 in Thursday night's season opener to spoil coach Butch Davis' return to the field for the first time since 2010.

Milton capped the opening drive with a 22-yard scoring pass to Jordan Atkins, and the Knights capitalized on an interception and a safety to lead 40-10 at halftime.

Milton was 16 of 21, with TD strikes of 50 and 3 yards to Tre'Quan Smith and 13 yards to Gabriel Davis before he and many other starters were pulled in the third quarter.

Four UCF rushers scored -- Jawon Hamilton on a 16-yarder, Taj McGowan on a plunge, Cordarrian Richardson on a 10-yard run, and Greg McRae on a 6-yarder.

FIU's Alex McGough hit Thomas Owens on a 75-yard TD pass and Napoleon Maxwell scored on a 55-yard run. The Golden Panthers turned it over four times.

It was Davis' return to the sidelines after amassing a 79-43 collegiate head coaching record in 10 years at Miami (1995-2000) and North Carolina (2007-10).