COLUMBIA, Mo. — No. 20 Missouri offense needed a lift, and defensive tackle Josh Augusta provided it in a 38-10 victory over Central Florida.

Holding onto a 14-10 lead over Central Florida (0-2) with under four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Missouri’s defense needed a stop.

On second-and-7 from UCF’s 44-yard line, Augusta batted quarterback Justin Holman’s pass at the line of scrimmage and caught it after it deflected high into the air.

It extended Missouri’s nation leading turnover streak — 47 games and counting — but more importantly, it provided a short field to an offense that had previously struggled.

Four plays later, quarterback Maty Mauk threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Bud Sasser on a slant. Missouri led, 21-10, and Central Florida never recovered.

Missouri’s next drive ended in another Mauk-to-Sasser connection, this time on a 22-yard scoring pass to Sasser who beat a UCF defensive back down the sideline.

On those two passes, Mauk had more yards than he did in the first 30 minutes of the game. In the first half, he completed 5-of-8 passes for 41 yards.

Mauk finished the game with 174 total yards, completing 14-of-24 passes for 144 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

In the first half, Central Florida largely kept Missouri’s offense, fresh off a 502-yard performance against Toledo, on the sideline.

The Tigers scored first on a seven-play, 40-yard drive, ending with Mauk’s 11-yard touchdown pass to WR Jimmie Hunt. Central Florida’s first mistake set up Missouri’s scoring drive, when punter Cal Houston shanked a 24-yard punt.

From there, though, the Knights’ offense used a methodical approach to keep Mauk and Missouri’s offense off the field.

Behind Holman and a running game that utilized tailbacks, receivers and Holman himself, Central Florida controlled the ball for 19:31 in the first two quarters.

The Knights’ two scoring drives — culminating in a 19-yard field goal by Shawn Moffitt and a two-yard touchdown pass from Holman to William Stanback — went a combined 27 plays and lasted a cumulative 12:03.

The touchdown-scoring drive was set up by an interception by cornerback Jacoby Glenn, who advanced the ball to Missouri’s 31-yard line.

Stanback’s two-yard touchdown gave the Knights a 10-7 lead, the first time this season Missouri trailed.

Missouri’s defense largely kept the big plays out of Holman’s repertoire, however.

After throwing for 204 yards on only nine completions in relief duty against Penn State in the opener, Holman had 97 yards on 10-of-13 passing at halftime, his team trailing 14-10.

After Missouri extended its lead to a three-possession advantage, Missouri’s defensive line followed Augusta’s lead and took over. Defensive end Shane Ray finished with two sacks and three tackles-for-losses.

NOTES: Missouri DT Matt Hoch was a pre-game scratch because of an undisclosed arm injury. He did not dress for the game. … Missouri WR Lawrence Lee also was held out of Saturday’s game. He did not dress and had a walking boot on his left foot. … Missouri RB Russell Hansbrough left the game in the fourth quarter after being slow to get up following a tackle.