UCF head coach Gus Malzahn and his staff had a plan.
They knew the challenges posed by unbeaten and third-ranked Cincinnati.
Success for the Knights almost certainly would involve running the football, controlling the tempo and keeping the Bearcats in check on defense—and generally playing well enough in all phases of the football game, all the while knowing Cincinnati was likely to make its own share of plays.
As Malzahn told his team two hours before kickoff at the team hotel: "Keep these guys behind the chains. Next play . . . . If they get a play, so what? Next play.
"On offense, run the ball effectively—three, four yards, pound the ball. We've got to keep our defense off the field.
"We've got to physically get after these guys. It's gonna have to be everybody.
"Handle adversity like champions. I can't tell you what's gonna happen. There's gonna be good and bad and in between.
"There will be some ups and downs. I can't tell you what the score will be at halftime.
"But the world is watching today."
Once the game began, the challenge became everything the Knights expected and more.
The home team scored early and often, UCF particularly struggled to make plays at the outset—and the Bearcats cruised to a 56-21 victory.
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It didn't start well, with Cincinnati partially blocking the Knights' first punt, leaving the Bearcats at the UCF 38.
Malzahn's team struggled to make anything happen on the offensive side, punting the first six times it had the ball.
UCF did not record its second first down until a 51-yard Ryan O'Keefe run with less than three minutes until halftime. By then Cincinnati led 35-0.
By midway in the second period the Bearcats held a 200-27 advantage in total offense—as the Knights' plan to run the football produced early returns of eight rushes for five net yards. At one point, the Bearcats held a 177-4 edge in ground yards.
Only the big play by O'Keefe, setting up a 16-yard touchdown pass from Mikey Keene to Brandon Johnson, made it 35-7 at intermission.
Cincinnati's Jerome Ford scored four first-half touchdowns, including a one-play drive on his 79-yard rush to the end zone. He had 176 yards by intermission, while UCF accumulated—other than the O'Keefe play—15 running attempts for four yards over the opening two periods.
Said Malzahn at halftime, "We had a bunch of bad things happen.
"Everything went wrong for us. We're due for a break."
Offensive line coach Herb Hand added, "We just gotta put good plays together.
"Move the chains, score points—it's gonna be a process."
Offered defensive coordinator Travis Williams, "Just do your job. If it's third down, get off the field.
"Let's go get the job done."
Added Malzahn, "Great body language. I need the champion to come out inside.
"Get a good look on your face and let's finish this thing."
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The Knights' plans to catch up produced 138 total yards in the third period (to 56 for the home team) .
But an interception thrown by Keene turned into a 74-yard pick-six that pushed the score to 42-7.
Keene later completed throws of 36 yards to O'Keefe and 35 to Johnny Richardson to set up a four-yard TD run by Isaiah Bowser (he returned after missing two games to help with a team-high 13 carries for 27 yards).
A mishandled punt allowed an eight-yard Bearcat scoring drive—and then the Knights finished it off on a 70-yard march capped by Marc-Antony Richards' two-yard scoring run.
It was a sunny afternoon when the Knights' time-of-possession advantage (32:48 to 27:12) meant nothing.
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"Here's what happened. We got our butts kicked," Malzahn told his team.
"We didn't play well in any phase. There's no reason for anybody to point fingers.
"When you play one of the best teams in the country everything is exposed. We're a team that's growing, but we got whipped and we need to take it like a man. There's no reason to beat around the bush with it—that's what it is.
"That team may win the whole thing. That's what it looks like right there.
"We're gonna have to get better—we're at the midway point.
"Sometimes in life you've gotta be a big boy. That's what we're gonna do.
"We've got a lot of football left. We're capable of playing a lot better than that. And that's what we've got to do.
"I haven't had very many like that, just like you guys haven't had many like that. That's the reality of where we're at.
"We've got to get back to the practice field and get better."
