Knights Fall in Heartbreaker at No. 9 Iowa State

AMES, Iowa – Facing the nation’s ninth-ranked team on the road in a raucous environment, the UCF football team was ready for the moment and came within minutes of pulling off the upset before the Cyclones scored with 30 seconds remaining to earn the 38-35 victory Saturday night at Jack Trice Stadium.

“Disappointing way to lose, our guys played and fought hard,” said UCF head coach Gus Malzahn. “We had an opportunity to beat a top 10 team on their home field and we didn’t get it done. We didn’t make the plays when the game was on the line and they did, which was the difference in the game.”

After struggling to run the football in their last few games, the Knights got back to doing what they do best, as the nation’s fourth-ranked rushing offense compiled 354 yards on the ground. That mark is the second most in a Big 12 Conference game this season, behind West Virginia’s 389 against Oklahoma State.

Running back RJ Harvey finished four yards shy of his second career 200-yard rushing performance, but settled for his 12th career 100-yard game with a pair of touchdowns. He became just the fourth Knights player to surpass 3,000 career rushing yards, as he eclipsed the mark on his 80-yard TD run in the second quarter.

The Orlando native now owns 3,105 rushing yards in a UCF uniform – fourth most in the program record books.

Making his first start at quarterback for the Black and Gold, Jacurri Brown nearly matched that mark with a career-high 154 rushing yards, the second most by a UCF quarterback in a single game. His night was highlighted by a 67-yard dash to the end zone in the third quarter to push the Knights’ lead to 28-14 at the time.

As good as UCF was in the game, ninth-ranked Iowa State didn’t allow the Knights to pull away and had an answer every time the visitors wanted to extend their lead.

A 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive followed Brown’s touchdown run to narrow the home team’s deficit to seven at 28-21. The Cyclones defense, which entered the contest leading the Big 12 in total defense, forced a three-and-out by UCF and ISU’s offense chewed up 6:26 before quarterback Rocco Becht found Jayden Higgins for a 12-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-27.

UCF freshman Chasen Johnson raced from the edge to block the extra point to keep the Knights up by one and give the team a spark.

A few minutes later, Braeden Marshall picked off Becht’s pass and nearly returned it for a touchdown, but the officials ruled that he dropped the ball prior to crossing the goal line and UCF retained possession on the one-yard line. Harvey punched it in on the next play to push the Knights’ lead to 35-27.

Looking to put the game away with a five-point lead 35-30, UCF’s defense forced a punt to give the Knights the ball with 4:30 on the clock. After picking up a pair of first downs, the Black and Gold were stopped on 3rd and 8 and had to punt.

Everything seemed to go the Cyclones way in the final few minutes, as they moved the ball 80 yards in 1:18 to take the lead on Becht’s second rushing score of the night. Iowa State was successful on the two-point conversion to take its first lead since the first quarter and rally to defeat the Knights, 38-35.

Xe'ree Alexander had his best game in a UCF uniform, leading the defense with a season-high 11 tackles, while Quadric Bullard had a career-high 10 tackles. The Knights had seven tackles for loss and three sacks, but Becht seemed to slip away from the defense when it mattered most.

Defensive back BJ Adams tallied UCF’s first of two turnovers in the game with his second interception of the season, and he returned it 63 yards for his first career pick-six.

Kobe Hudson had three receptions for 26 yards, extending his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 30 – the seventh-longest such streak in program history.

UCF returns to action next weekend, when the Knights welcome BYU for their Homecoming Game. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN from FBC Mortgage Stadium.