ORLANDO - The UCF football team dropped a wild, 42-35, back-and-forth affair Friday night at Cardinal Stadium, falling to 2-1 on the season.
With 1:21 to play in the fourth quarter, junior quarterback Dillon Gabriel rushed in for a 6-yard touchdown to tie the game at 35-35 and give the Knights (2-1) a chance to send it to overtime.
On the ensuing possession, as the Cardinals (2-1) were driving in UCF territory, defensive end Tre'mon Morris-Brash intercepted Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham to give the Knights an opportunity to win the game with less than 30 seconds to play.
On the next play, Gabriel was picked off by Jaylin Alderman, who returned it for a 66-yard touchdown and seal the victory for the Cardinals.
Gabriel threw for three touchdowns in the loss, rushed for the late-game touchdown, and recorded the first receiving touchdown of his career, catching a 20-yard touchdown pass from Ryan O'Keefe in the third quarter.
O'Keefe also caught a touchdown from Gabriel, as did Jaylon Robinson and Brandon Johnson, who has caught a touchdown pass in each of his first three games as a Knight.
Cunningham led Louisville with 265 passing yards and a score through the air, in addition to 99 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
The Knights will return to action in two weeks when they play at Navy in their first conference game of the season.
COACH MALZAHN
"Obviously it was an extremely tough loss. There were a lot of things that happened during the game. We lost a lot of guys. A lot of guys went down. (It was) a next-man-up mentality. Our guys kept fighting until the end. There were a lot of time it didn't look good, (but) they kept fighting and competing. It was dissapointed locker room, obviously. I really believe this will be one of the defining moments of this year's team. I think we have a lot of winners in the locker room. Louisville's a good team. They've got good players and good coaches. They deserve a lot of credit."
SOUNDS OF THE GAME
