ORLANDO – It came down to the last possession, but at the final whistle UCF came up a few plays short as the Knights fell to Cincinnati, 19-13, Saturday evening at FBC Mortgage Stadium. After the UCF defense forced a punt with 58 seconds remaining, the Black and Gold drove the ball down to the 25-yard line before a sack ended the game and gave the Bearcats the road win.
“I just told our team I was proud of our fight, they fought hard,” said UCF head coach Gus Malzahn. “The 10 penalties stand out, 75 yards. The two fumbles, especially early in the first drive, when we’re driving, and then obviously on the 10-yard line, we fumble again early on. That wasn’t good.
“I thought our defense did a lot of good things. That’s a really good offense. Third downs, we didn’t do great, but everything else, I think they fought their guts out.”
After winning the previous two meetings, Cincinnati (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) knotted the all-time series at 5-5 as the teams have now met in each of the past 10 seasons. Entering Saturday’s game as the second-best offense in the Big 12 Conference, UCF’s (3-3, 1-2) defense held the Bearcats to the fewest points and fewest yards of the season, but costly penalties and turnovers were too much for the Knights to overcome.
In a matchup that pitted two of the nation’s top offenses, both teams were held to season lows in points and held well below their season averages in a stout defensive effort.
The Knights compiled 397 total yards with 201 passing and 196 rushing yards, while the Bearcats recorded 338 yards with 241 through the air and 97 on the ground. Defensively, UCF forced a pair of turnovers, as senior BJ Adams and Ladarius Tennison each recorded their first career interceptions.
Cincinnati struck first in the contest following a UCF turnover in its own territory, but the defense stood tall and forced a field goal after the Bearcats took over on the Knights four-yard line. UC ran three plays and only gained a yard before settling for the field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
Following another miscue, Cincinnati extended its lead to 10-0 after a rushing touchdown from quarterback Brendan Sorsby. UCF countered with a strong drive, amassing 93 yards on 13 plays but the Knights were forced to kick the field goal.
Kobe Hudson knotted the score at 10-10 in the third quarter, after he reeled in a 15-yard pass from quarterback Jacurri Brown, his first TD pass as a Knight. Hudson finished the game with seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown, as he tallied his 29th consecutive game with a reception to tie for the eighth-longest streak in program history.
Cincinnati tallied the next two scores to pull ahead 19-10 after a 51-yard field goal from Nathan Hawks and a four-yard touchdown reception by Tony Johnson with 6:32 left in the game. UCF answered with a nine-play, 65-yard scoring drive capped by a field goal from Grant Reddick to cut the deficit to six.
The Knights’ defense forced the Bearcats to punt after logging 12 yards on five plays. Following the punt, Brown found running back RJ Harvey and Hudson on back-to-back plays for 21 and 22 yards, respectively, to get the Black and Gold into plus territory.
Brown drove the Knights to the 25-yard line with three seconds left, but unfortunately, he was sacked on the final play of the game as Cincinnati held on for the win.
UCF quarterback EJ Colson made his first career start under center, becoming the youngest quarterback (17Y, 10M) to start at QB for UCF and the youngest player. He also is the true freshman in the Knights’ FBS era (since 1996) to start under center.
Harvey led the rushing attack with 17 carries for 94 yards, while Brown tallied 16 attempts for 84 yards. Brown finished the game 13-for-20 with 207 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Sheldon Arnold, Xe’ree Alexander and Nyjalik Kelly each recorded seven tackles to tie for the game high. Jamaal Johnson recorded his first career sack and Isaiah Nixon notched his first solo sack.
UCF will return to action next weekend when the Knights travel to Ames, Iowa, for their first matchup against Iowa State. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on either FOX or FS1.
Postgame Notes
General:
- True freshman QB EJ Colson became the youngest quarterback (17Y, 10M) to start at QB for UCF. He also is the true freshman in the Knights’ FBS era (since 1996) to start under center.
- Colson also became the youngest player to start in an FBS game this season.
- Colson joins a storied line of UCF true freshman quarterbacks to start for the Knights since 1996: Mikey Keene (2021), Dillon Gabriel (2019), McKenzie Milton (2016), Bo Schneider (2015), Jeff Godfrey (2010), Rob Calabrese (2008), Kyle Isreal (2004) and Steven Moffett (2003).
Offense:
- Kobe Hudson extended his catch streak to 29 consecutive games. This tied Ranell Hall for eighth all time in UCF history for most consecutive games with a reception.
- Hudson recorded his third 100+ yard receiving game, haling in seven catches for 114 yards and one touchdown.
- UCF’s first scoring drive of 13 plays for 93 yards resulted in a 29-yard Grant Reddick field goal. This was the Knights’ longest scoring drive of the season.
- After taking over in the middle of the first quarter redshirt sophomore Jacurri Brown put on a performance that saw him go 13-for-20 for 207 yards and one touchdown with a 168.4 passer rating. Brown threw his first UCF touchdown pass during the Knights’ first offensive drive of the second half to Kobe Hudson.
Defense:
- Isaiah Nixon recorded a sack in the first quarter. This was the first sack that was fully credited to him in his career (he was credited with .5 a sack last season).
- Nixon tallied his first-career solo sack on the Bearcats third drive of the game.
- BJ Adams secured his first-career interception early in the first quarter, the Knights’ sixth of the season with Adams serving as the fifth player with one to his name.
- The last time the Knights had six interceptions through the first six games was the 2021 season.
- Ladarius Tennison recorded his first career interception of the season in the second quarter.
- Nyjalik Kelly set a career-high with seven tackles, along with 1.5 TFLs and a QB hit.
- Jamaal Johnson recorded his first career sack in the third quarter.
- Xe’ree Alexander set a career high with seven tackles.
- Sheldon Arnold II tied a career high with seven tackles. He had previously recorded this amount this season against TCU.
- The Knights recorded eight tackles for loss in the game. This is tied with the game against Colorado for most tackles for a loss this season.