UCF Falls to West Virginia in Final Road GameUCF Falls to West Virginia in Final Road Game

UCF Falls to West Virginia in Final Road Game

by Justin Wilson
Box Score

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The UCF football team couldn’t overcome a slow start Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium, as West Virginia earned a 31-21 victory against the Knights to become bowl eligible. The Mountaineers jumped out to a 14-0 lead and never trailed en route to the win on their senior day.

“Disappointing loss,” said UCF head coach Gus Malzahn. “You look at the game and I think it really came down to third and fourth downs, we had trouble getting off the field and that led to them controlling the clock and time of possession. We got behind early and it was uphill after that.”

The Black and Gold (4-7, 2-6 Big 12) compiled 348 yards of total offense to 318 for the Blue and Gold, but WVU (6-5, 5-3) converted eight third downs and was 4-for-4 on fourth downs. In contrast, UCF was 3-for-9 on third downs and 1-for-2 on fourth downs. The Mountaineers held a 37:50 to 22:10 advantage in the time of possession.

After being named a Doak Walker Award Semifinalist for the second consecutive year on Tuesday, UCF’s RJ Harvey was dominant again rushing for 130 yards on 16 attempts with two touchdowns. He surpassed 100 yards rushing for the eighth time this season and 16th in his career, the second most in program history.

The FBS leader in explosive running plays, Harvey had five rushes for at least 10 yards, headlined by a 28-yard rush in the first quarter. This season, the Orlando native has rushed for 1,484 yards and 21 touchdowns.

 

 

Harvey tied the program record with his 46th total touchdown scored in the contest, which ties UCF Hall of Famer Kevin Smith.

Knights quarterback Dylan Rizk was 11-for-21 for 172 yards with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Hudson, who finished the game with two catches for 68 yards to extend his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 34. That mark is the third longest in program history behind Sean Beckton (42) and Ryan O’Keefe (35).

West Virginia rushed for 200 yards led by running back Cedric Donaldson with 19 carries for 96 yards with a pair of scores and Jaheim White with 54 yards on 12 attempts with a touchdown. Mountaineers quarterback Garrett Greene was 13-for-21 for 118 yards with a passing TD.

After winning the toss and electing to receive, UCF went three-and-out on its first drive of the game and West Virginia countered by running eight plays for 68 yards, capped by a rushing touchdown from Donaldson to take a 7-0 lead. The lone turnover of the game came on the Knights’ next drive, as Dontez Fagan recovered a fumble to give the Mountaineers possession on their own 28-yard line.

WVU chewed up 6:21 of game time, running 14 plays amassing 66 yards to pull ahead 14-0 following White’s three-yard rushing TD.

Harvey got UCF on the scoreboard in the second quarter with a two-yard TD rush to cut the margin to seven at 14-7. After the teams traded punts, West Virginia scored with 15 seconds remaining in the first half to take momentum into halftime and then scored on their first drive of the second half to take a 28-7 advantage.

The Knights cut the margin to 10 following Hudson’s receiving touchdown and Harvey’s second rushing TD at 31-21, but couldn’t get a defensive stop as the Mountaineers held the ball for the final 5:19 seconds to secure the victory.

Defensively, linebacker Xe’ree Alexander recorded a career-high 17 tackles, which is tied for the most by a Big 12 player this season. It is also the most in a game by a UCF player since Tatum Bethune had 18 against South Florida in 2021. Ethan Barr also logged a career high in stops with 12.

The Black and Gold return to action on Friday, as UCF hosts Utah on Senior Knight. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. on FOX from FBC Mortgage Stadium.