UCF and Texas Tech will meet for the first time in the history of the programs this weekend, as kickoff is set for 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT from Jones AT&T Stadium and will air live on FS2. Both teams are looking to earn bowl eligibility in the matchup with both teams owning 5-5 records.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023
Time: 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT
TV: FS2
Talents: Guy Haberman (PXP), Charles Arbuckle (Analyst)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game, Sirius XM 391
Talents: Marc Daniels (PXP), Gary Parris (Analyst), Scott Adams (Sideline)
Spanish Radio: UCFKnights.com, YouTube.com/UCFKnights
Live Stats: click here
A UCF WIN WOULD...
• Mark the third Big 12 Conference win and second conference road win in program history.
• Give Malzahn his first win against Texas Tech in his first meeting against the program.
• Make the Knights bowl eligible for the eighth consecutive year and the 14th time in program history.
• Keep the Knights unbeaten in November this year at 3-0.
• Be better than a loss.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
| Overall | First Meeting |
KNIGHT NOTES
• In their last outing, the Knights earned a dominant 45-3 victory against No. 15 Oklahoma State on Saturday. UCF football was named the Cheez-It National Team of the Week by the All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America on Monday. The selection marked the third time UCF has earned the national team of the week honor from the FWAA and the first time since Nov. 19, 2018, when the Knights extended the nation’s longest winning streak to an American Athletic Conference and school record 23 games at the time.
• Following UCF’s win, head coach Gus Malzahn was tabbed the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week. Additionally, sophomore Demari Henderson earned Big 12 and Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week, while quarterback John Rhys Plumlee garnered a spot on the Manning Award Stars of the Week and Davey O’Brien Great 8 List.
• UCF remained unbeaten in its annual Space Game, which has been in existence since 2017, with a perfect 7-0 mark. The Knights have now outscored the opposition 349-147 in the seven Space Games that have been played. The game recognizes the University of Central Florida’s roots, founded as Florida Technological University in 1963 with the mission of providing personnel to support the growing U.S. space program at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. As the academic scope expanded beyond its original focus on engineering and technology, the school was renamed the University of Central Florida in 1978.
• UCF’s offense continues to rank among the nation’s best, as the Knights are eighth in the country and second in the Big 12 Conference in total offense, averaging 494.5 yards per game. The Knights have surpassed 400 yards in seven of their 10 games this season, headlined by 723 yards in the season opener against Kent State, the second-most yards by any team in the country this year in a single game.
• Additionally, the Knights are third nationally in rushing offense with 233.7 rushing yards per game. UCF has rushed for 200 or more yards in seven of its 10 games this season, highlighted by 389 rushing yards in the season opener against Kent State, the seventh most by an FBS team this season and the second-highest mark in the Big 12. The Knights have rushed for 140 or more yards in each game this season, one of only two teams nationally to accomplish the feat, joining West Virginia.
SCOUTING TEXAS TECH
Texas Tech enters Saturday’s game with a 5-5 record after defeating No. 16 Kansas in its last outing on the road in Lawrence. The Red Raiders snapped a 10-game losing streak against ranked opponents with the win over the Jayhawks on Saturday, 16-13. After hitting the game-winning field goal, kicker Gino Garcia was named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week.
The Red Raiders’ 4-3 mark in Big 12 play is their best start through their first seven games of their conference schedule since 2013. Texas Tech has now won five-consecutive games in the month of November dating back to the 2022 season. That is the longest streak for the Red Raiders since Tech won six in a row during the 1992-94 campaigns.
Now in his second season, head coach Joey Maguire has compiled a 13-10 overall record and a 9-7 mark in conference play.
Saturday’s matchup will be the first meeting between the Knights and the Red Raiders.
UCF will make its first trip to the state of Texas since Nov. 13, 2021, when the Knights visited SMU. The Black & Gold are looking for their first win in the Lone Star State since earning a 44-21 at Houston on Oct. 31, 2020.
CHEEZ-IT NATIONAL TEAM OF THE WEEK
Following a dominant 45-3 victory against No. 15 Oklahoma State on Saturday, UCF football has been named the Cheez-It National Team of the Week, the All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America announced Monday.
UCF recorded its first top-15 win since 2017 when the Knights defeated seventh-ranked Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the first top-15 home win since 2009 against No. 13 Houston.
The 42-point win over Oklahoma State marked the largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent in UCF history, topping the 25-point margin from the Cincinnati game in 2018.
The selection marks the third time UCF has earned the national team of the week honor from the FWAA and the first time since Nov. 19, 2018, when the Knights extended the nation’s longest winning streak to an American Athletic Conference and school record 23 games at the time.
Oklahoma State, ironically, was last week’s Cheez-It National Team of the Week. The Cowboys had won their last five games and not lost since September before UCF defeated the squad Saturday night.
MALZAHN NAMED DODD TROPHY COACH OF THE WEEK
Officials from the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc. Monday announced that UCF head football coach Gus Malzahn has been selected as The Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week, presented by PNC Bank.
The Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week award honors a football coach who led his team to a significant victory during the previous week, while also embodying the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity.
“This was a tremendous win by coach Malzahn and his football team over a surging Oklahoma State team who had just won five straight games,” said Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. “The Knights not only pulled off the upset, but did so in dominating fashion on both sides of the ball, which is something coach Dodd would have applauded.”
“This was a marquee win for the Knights in their first year of the Big 12,” said Peach Bowl, Inc. CEO and President, Gary Stokan. “Coach Malzahn has always excelled in teaching his student-athletes perseverance on and off the field. That, along with his commitment to academic excellence and community involvement, makes him a worthy selection for this week’s honor.”
The Dodd Trophy Presented by PNC Bank – along with the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week Award – celebrates the head coach of a FBS team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity.
A panel consisting of all previous winners, national media, a member of the Dodd family and a College Football Hall of Fame member will identify the final list of potential recipients at the conclusion of the 2023 season. The winner of the 2023 Dodd Trophy Presented by PNC Bank will be announced in Atlanta during the week of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
HENDERSON EARNS BIG 12, WALTER CAMP NATIONAL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Following one of the best defensive performances of his young career on Saturday on one the nation’s biggest stages, UCF’s Demari Henderson has been named the Walter Camp National and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, the organizations announced Monday.
Facing 15th-ranked Oklahoma State, the sophomore defensive back was unfazed as he tallied a pair of interceptions and recovered a fumble. He became the first UCF player since 2019 to secure three turnovers in the same game.
Henderson is one of just 11 players in the Big 12 Conference with multiple interceptions in a game this season and just the seventh to accomplish the feat in a conference game. He finished the contest with four tackles to lead the Knights’ defense past the Cowboys in a dominant showing, 45-3.
UCF’s dominant defense held OSU without a touchdown for the first time in more than a full calendar year, as the Cowboys last game without finding the end zone was a 48-0 shutout loss at Kansas State on Oct. 29, 2022.
Averaging 180.1 rushing yards per game, Oklahoma State had -6 rushing yards at halftime and ended the game with just 52, which is the fewest for the program since Nov. 15, 2014, when the Cowboys tallied 34 against Texas.
Henderson becomes the first player in UCF history to garner Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.
PLUMLEE NAMED MANNING AWARD STAR, DAVEY O'BRIEN GREAT 8 LIST
Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee was named a Manning Award Star of the Week and tabbed to the Davey O’Brien Great 8 List on Monday following his stellar performance in UCF’s 45-3 win against Oklahoma State. Plumlee was 11 of 18 passing with a season-high 299 passing yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 74 yards to compile 373 yards on the day.
UNDEFEATED IN SPACE GAMES
Since its inception in 2017, UCF is a perfect 7-0 in its annual Space Game, earning a dominant 45-3 victory in the latest edition on Saturday.
The game recognizes the University of Central Florida’s roots, founded as Florida Technological University in 1963 with the mission of providing personnel to support the growing U.S. space program at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. As the academic scope expanded beyond its original focus on engineering and technology, the school was renamed the University of Central Florida in 1978.
UCF Space Game History
Nov. 11, 2023 - W, 45-3, #15 Oklahoma State
Oct. 13, 2022 - W, 70-13, Temple
Oct. 22, 2021 - W, 24-7, Memphis
Oct. 24, 2020 - W, 51-34, Tulane
Nov. 2, 2019 - W, 44-29, Houston
Nov. 1, 2018 - W, 52-40, Temple
Oct. 14, 2017 - W, 63-21, ECU
UCF Space Facts
- UCF is No. 1 nationally for placing graduates in aerospace industry jobs.
- In 1968, UCF established its motto: “Reach for the Stars” to represent the University’s promising aerospace education in engineering, electronics and other technological professions.
- 29% of Kennedy Space Center employees are UCF Alumni.
- The 50-yard line of FBC Mortgage Stadium is on the exact latitude as Launch Complex 39A, NASA’s most historic launch pad, 31 miles to the east.
HARVEY’S CAREER DAY
In a matchup that featured two of the nation’s top running backs, it was UCF’s RJ Harvey that stole the spotlight from Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon, who entered the game as the nation’s leading rusher. Harvey tallied his fifth consecutive 100-yard rushing game and a career-high 206 rushing yards to become the Knights’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Greg McCrae in 2018. Harvey also found the end zone three times, matching his career best from last week’s game at Cincinnati.
The Orlando, Florida, native recorded the second-longest rushing touchdown in program history with a 92-yard scamper. It was the longest play in the Big 12 this season and the second longest rushing TD in the nation.
Harvey now owns 1,082 rushing yards and 12 TDs this season, while UCF’s defense limited Oklahoma State to just 52 rushing yards, the fewest for the Cowboys this year, and Gordon was held to 25 yards on 12 carries.
THREE FOR THREE
Senior wide receiver Kobe Hudson tallied three catches in last Saturday’s game against No. 15 Oklahoma State and all three went for touchdowns. Hudson became just the second player this season to record three catches and all three go for touchdowns.
The three touchdown receptions were also a career high for the Pine Mountain, Georgia, native.
ONE OF ONE
UCF is the only program in the nation with a 1,000-yard rusher and two 700-yard receivers. Running back RJ Harvey has tallied 1,082 rushing yards, while Javon Baker has recorded 790 receiving yards and Kobe Hudson has logged 703.
It marks the first time the Knights have had a 1,000-yard rusher and two receivers surpass 700 yards since 2013.
DOMINANT DEFENSE
UCF’s dominant defense held Oklahoma State without a touchdown for the first time in more than a full calendar year, as the Cowboys’ last game without finding the end zone was a 48-0 shutout loss at Kansas State on Oct. 29, 2022.
Averaging 180.1 rushing yards per game, Oklahoma State had -6 rushing yards at halftime and ended the game with just 52, which is the fewest for the program since Nov. 15, 2014, when the Cowboys tallied 34 against Texas.
The Knights’ defense allowed the fewest points in a game since a shutout victory over Florida A&M to open the 2019 campaign on Aug. 29.
FOUR TAKEAWAYS
UCF forced four turnovers en route to the win against the Cowboys, the most this season and the most during Gus Malzahn’s tenure in Orlando. The four turnovers are the most since UCF secured one interception and three fumble recoveries at East Carolina on Sept. 26, 2020.
UNIQUE CONNECTION
Both head coaches mentioned their unique connection in their press conferences on Monday, as UCF coach Gus Malzahn and Texas Tech’s Joey Maguire have known each other for a long time. Malzahn’s stepmom was a science teacher at Maguire’s middle school in eighth grade and Malzahn also recruited the high school team that Maguire coached when Malzahn was at Tulsa and Arkansas State.
MALZAHN REACHES THE CENTURY MARK
Now in his third season as UCF head coach, Gus Malzahn tallied the 100th win of his career in last Saturday’s dominant win against Oklahoma State. His 100 victories are the fourth most among active coaches in the Big 12 Conference.
Big 12 Head Coaching Wins
1. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State, 163-78
2. Lance Leipold, Kansas, 161-59
3. Chris Klieman, Kansas State, 109-36
4. Gus Malzahn, UCF, 100-52
5. Dana Holgorsen, Houston, 92-67
Additionally, Malzahn’s .658 career winning percentage (100-52) ranks among the nation’s top 20 active coaches.
GIBBS IS BACK IN TEXAS
UCF co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach David Gibbs is more familiar with Lubbock, Texas, than any coach on staff as Gibbs served as Texas Tech’s defensive coordinator for four seasons from 2015-18.
In 2017, Texas Tech led the Big 12 Conference and ranked sixth nationally with 29 forced turnovers, including four defensive scores, most by a Texas Tech defense since 2001. In his first season at the helm of the Red Raider defense in 2015, Gibbs preached the importance of forcing turnovers and the effects showed as Tech went from a minus-13 turnover margin in 2014 to plus-two in 2015. The Red Raiders picked off 15 passes and recovered 10 fumbles in 2015, a year after forcing just 15 turnovers altogether.
Gibbs is in his third year with the Knights.