The UCF Knights see their eight-year bowl game streak end with a 31-21 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Knights fall to 4-7 on the season. It’s knee-jerk reaction time.
Knee-Jerk Reactions: UCF’s Bowl Streak Ends Against West Virginia 31-21
Three Keys Recap
On Friday’s Locked on UCF, I presented three keys to the game. Let’s see how those keys were or were not met.
Key One: Play with Urgency
At 4-6, UCF’s back was against the wall coming into this game against West Virginia. The Knights needed to hit first and keep the punches coming. They did not score first or keep the punches coming.
UCF’s offense was slow to get started. The first drive was a quick three-and-out. The second drive got into West Virginia, but a bad exchange between quarterback Dylan Rizk and running back Myles Montgomery led to a fumble and turnover. The third drive was another punt. UCF finally got on the scoreboard on their fourth drive with a touchdown. Unfortunately, the Knights were not able to create any sustainable momentum as they punted on their subsequent drive. The next time UCF scored, West Virginia was up 28-7.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the offense started to push the tempo and make West Virginia’s defense even the slightest bit uncomfortable. The Knights scored to make it 31-21, but could not do anything else. RJ Harvey had his usual good game, but half of his 130 yards on the ground came on three plays. Rizk had four big passing plays and they were all in the second half.
Second Key: Take Away the Run
West Virginia is a running team with a three-man running attack with running backs CJ Donaldson, Jahiem White, and quarterback Garrett Greene. The Knights failed badly. The Mountaineers’ running game worked to perfection and the offense did not have to rely on Greene throwing the ball. The passing game had struggled throughout the season, so UCF needed to force West Virginia to throw the ball more. Since the Mountaineers scored the first two touchdowns and their lead was never threatened, they were able to use the run and exploit bad tackling by the Knights.
The running game was so successful, that Greene was able to pepper in some passes and did well, going 13/21 for 118 yards and a touchdown. The magic completion percentage number, in my opinion, has always been 60% and Greene hit the mark.
Third Key: Use Common Sense
UCF continues to be plagued by self-inflicted wounds. One recurring theme for the Knights has been a tendency for the offensive and defensive lines to commit penalties. These unforced errors come from a lack of concentration. Playing on the road isn’t new. Offensive linemen should be well aware of what the snap count is and that opponents will try to fool them into moving. Defensive linemen should know to move on the ball and not on a player in motion or overly anticipate the snap count. These lead to free yards and could kill a scoring drive or keep the other team on the field. The fumble by Rizk was a result of a bad exchange with Myles Montgomery. That lack of focus has dogged the team all season.
At least we did not see a kickoff blunder like what happened against Arizona State.
The Streak is Over
After a school-record eight-year streak, UCF will not be going to a bowl game. This is a major black eye on the legacy of head coach Gus Malzahn. The last time UCF failed to qualify for a bowl was in 2015 when the team went winless and head coach George O’Leary retired. With the season officially ending next week, one has to wonder what Malzahn will do next. Is he at UCF in 2025? It would not be surprising to see the Black Friday matchup against Utah sparsely attended.
Now What?
For the first time since the winless campaign of 2015, UCF will be staying home in December. The program has some decisions to make. This squad was a senior-heavy team and the expectation was to be competitive. The media voted UCF to finish eighth*, but as we’ve seen with other schools (Arizona State?), the media poll was incredibly inaccurate. As of the writing of this article, the top four teams in the Big 12 are tied for first. UCF played, and lost, to all four of them.
Fans want Malzahn out. Does athletic director Terry Mohajir pay the $12+ million buyout for Malzahn and any other coach under contract? They owe $700k+ to Ted Roof already. Do they then buy out another coach to take over the program? Do they instead keep Malzahn and work on building up funds for next year when the House settlement kicks in? Does Malzahn retire? We’ll find out soon and we’ll talk about the settlement later.
*I did not vote in the media poll this year.
Uniform Review
UCF went with a black/white/black combo. They used their metallic gold block UCF decals on the helmet. The equipment team tried something new by bringing in a gold facemask. The facemask did not match anything as it was side by side with the metallic logo. While it was a cool idea, the execution could have been better.
The predicted score was 31-27 UCF. The progress made by the defense with defensive coordinator Addison Williams fell apart as West Virginia’s running game was able to run wild. I had anticipated the defense would perform more in line with how they looked against Arizona and Arizona State.
Stat Leaders:
Passing:
UCF: Dylan Rizk: 11/21 for 172 yards, 1 TD, 0 Int
WVU: Garrett Greene: 13/21 for 118 yards, 1 TD, 0 Int
Rushing:
UCF: R.J. Harvey: 16 carries for 130 yards, 2 TD
WVU: CJ Donaldson: 19 carries for 96 yards, 2 TD
Receiving:
UCF: Randy Pittman: 3 catches for 43 yards, 0 TD
WVU: Hudson Clement: 5 catches for 81 yards, 0 TD
Game Notes:
- West Virginia leads the series 4-0.
- RJ Harvey has 1,458 yards rushing this season. This is the third-highest single-season total at UCF.
- RJ Harvey had his eighth 100-yard rushing game of the season. He has sole possession of fourth for the highest single-season mark at UCF.
- RJ Harvey now has 16 career 100-yard rushing games. He has sole possession of second all-time at UCF.
- RJ Harvey has run for his fifth consecutive 100-yard game. He is tied for second all-time at UCF. He’s reached this mark twice before and Kevin Smith has once.
- RJ Harvey has 46 total touchdowns in his career. He ties Kevin Smith for the first all-time at UCF.
- Kobe Hudson has caught a pass in 34 consecutive games. He has sole possession of third all-time at UCF.
- Sorry, it’s not my best, but my couch was set on fire
