One of the Knights fans’ most anticipated matchups of the year went sour as the UCF Knights fell from the ranks of the undefeated by losing to the Colorado Buffaloes 48-21. It’s knee-jerk reaction time.
A Dud on the National Stage
This game was selected as the host game for Fox’ Big Noon Kickoff Show as its game of the week. The hype was high and the turnout at the show was the biggest crowd the Fox show has ever had. It was Gus Malzahn vs Deion Sanders. UCF’s offensive trio of KJ Jefferson, RJ Harvey, and Kobe Hudson vs Colorado’s duo of Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. This game served as an escape or distraction for some after Hurricane Helene. After both UCF and Colorado had amazing finishes in their respective previous games, expectations were high that this going to be a tough-fought game.
Then the game happened.
The play on the field drained the energy out of the stands. Colorado had an answer for every move UCF made and the Knights could not keep up. Once the atmosphere of FBC Mortgage Stadium was taken out of the equation, regaining any semblance of momentum became nearly impossible. This was a stark contrast to the last time a national college kickoff show aired on campus with ESPN’s College GameDay back in 2018.
Was this a case of looking ahead? UCF plays the Florida Gators in Gainesville next week. Was this a case of a bye-week hangover? The Knights have another bye week the week of November 16th. What caused the Knights to fall apart on a national stage?
The Secret Word is Squandered.
The Colorado defense forced UCF to not be able to rely on the run. Coming into the game, UCF led the nation in rushing yards per game with a 375.7 average. The Buffaloes held the Knights to 43 yards and a touchdown in the first half, averaging just over two yards per carry. Colorado looked like the better running team, running for 70 yards, a touchdown, and averaging just over four-and-a-half yards per carry. In the second half, it balanced out some with the Knights finishing with 177 yards on 44 carries. The Buffaloes finished with 128 yards on 29 carries. Colorado won the average yards per carry battle 4.4 to 4.0. Even if you adjust for sack yards lost, Colorado wins the YPG battle 5.2 to 5.1.
The Knights had a chance to set the pace early after intercepting Sanders and moving the ball near the goal line. Jefferson underthrew a pass in the endzone and it was picked off. UCF never seemed to be able to find any real momentum after that. This was not the only scoring opportunity UCF squandered. In the fourth quarter, the Knights had four drives that got within the Colorado 40-yard line and two within the 10-yard line. UCF walked away with zero points. Two drives were turnovers on downs. The other two were fumbles. The first, Colorado offense drove for a touchdown and the other became a 95-yard return for a touchdown. If you’re keeping score, UCF went two for five on red zone opportunities with three turnovers and gave up 14 points off those turnovers. The Knights’ offense had a fourth turnover in there as well.
Jefferson was sacked a whopping five times and the offense was tackled 13 times for a loss.
The Defense Got Cooked
Like last week, this was not an easy matchup for the defense. It’s no secret that Sanders can sling the ball, but the Colorado offense took what the UCF defense gave them. The Buffalo receivers were able to create separation in the short third of the field and Sanders had no problem dinking and dunking. UCF’s pursuit angles were so bad that the Colorado receivers were able to create separation and rack up yards after the catch. Out of Sanders’ 225 first-half yardage, 93 of it was after the catch. The second half, while not nearly as offense-heavy, didn’t get much better. Sanders continued to focus on the short game and it continued to work enough to score some points and run the clock. Sanders finished with 290 yards with an 80% completion percentage. That’s right, 80%. 8-0. Four out of every five passes he threw were complete.
There’s no way you can win a game when the opposing quarterback is near automatic. Sanders’ one major mistake was throwing an interception on the first drive of the game, but other than that, Sanders was able to be very surgical with the defense. Aside from Hunter, Sanders’ other main targets Jimmy Horn Jr and Will Sheppard looked very sharp. Sheppard was a big play magnet with three of his four catches going for at least 15 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown. The much-maligned defensive line was able to generate some pressure on Sanders, sacking him twice and forcing him to scramble a few times. For comparison, Baylor sacked Sanders eight times last week. Colorado’s offensive line isn’t good. UCF’s defensive line didn’t step up all that much.
UCF’s Special Teams Collapsed
At the end of the first half, UCF had some bad clock management, but punt coverage was even worse, allowing Colorado’s Horn Jr to return a punt to the UCF 35 with 0:08 left on the clock. Sanders was able to gain seven yards with enough time for Alexander Stoyanovich to hit a 46-yard field goal as time expired to end the half up 27-14. On Colorado’s previous possession, they kicked a field goal. Masterful special teams by Colorado. Not so much for UCF. Add on a rushed 55-yard field goal attempt by Colton Boomer that went wide left, a kickoff that went out of bounds, and a kick catch interference call. It made for a rough day.
Uniform Review
UCF opened its conference home slate with black helmets, black tops, and white bottoms. The helmet logos were the inverse block logos. I don’t particularly like this combination. Being a student during the second half of the Russell Athletic era, I like gold pants in this situation. The white sticks out for the wrong reasons. If UCF was wearing a white helmet, white pants would work. This one was a miss.
The predicted score was 48-44 UCF. This one was a whiff. Better luck next week.
Stat Leaders
Passing:
UCF: KJ Jefferson: 20/30 for 284 yards, 2 TD, 2 Int
CU: Shedeur Sanders: 28/35 for 290 yards, 3 TD, 1 Int
Rushing:
UCF: R.J. Harvey: 16 carries for 77 yards, 0 TD
CU: Isaiah Augustave: 4 carries for 39 yards, 0 TD
Receiving:
UCF: R.J. Harvey: 4 catches for 92 yards, 2 TD
CU: Travis Hunter: 9 catches for 89 yards, 1 TD
Game Notes:
- Colorado leads the series 1-0.
- Kobe Hudson has caught a pass in 27 consecutive games
- Sorry, it’s not my best, but I ran out of energy with the Fox Big Noon Kickoff show.
