The Knights’ offense was dysfunctional throughout the
night and continued to suffer on third down (converting only eight of
twenty-three). Tulsa made some huge plays on offensive to overcome a
Knights defense that started stout but was asked to do way, way, too
much.
UCF freshman quarterback McKenzie Milton was inaccurate
throughout the night. Sometimes, he threw too low. Often, he threw too
high. It was bad. And it definitely wasn’t enough to keep pace with a
Tulsa offense that picked up steam as the game progressed.
Tulsa trampled UCF with its running game tandem of
D’Angelo Brewer and James Flanders, who ran for 167 and 163 yards
respectively. The Golden Hurricane ended with 474 total yards – 348 of
them rushing and 126 passing.
But the game started as a defensive struggle. UCF went
three and out (the first of many) to start. And on Tulsa’s first drive,
D.J. Killings jumped a route, picking off Dane Evans and taking it to
the house for six. It was the Knight’s seventh non-offensive touchdown
on the season (a total admittedly skewed by the three defensive touchdowns a couple of weeks ago against Tulane). The Knights went for two, which back-up quarterback Nick Patti picked up easily with a shovel pass to tight end Cal Bloom.
But despite some defensive stands, the disjointed UCF
offense failed to extend the lead. Eventually Flanders ripped a sixty
yard run, with Demeitre Brim saving the touchdown with a tackle at the
second yard line. But soon enough, Flanders was in the end zone.
The Knights suffered a horrible self-inflicted wound with
a little over a minute left in the first quarter. Milton and running
back Jawon Hamilton botched a pitch to the short side of the field, and
Tulsa recovered the fumble giving them great field position. Tulsa would
score in short order when UCF’s Justin McDonald failed to wrap up
Brewer for what could have been a tackle for a loss.
UCF continued to be ineffective on offense, but hung in
thanks to a hard hitting defense and some special teams play. Shaquill
Griffin blocked a Tulsa field goal attempt, and UCF’s Matthew Wright hit
a 48 yard field goal on the ensuing possession to narrow things to
11-14.
The Knights would add another long field goal – this time
from 48 yards – to tie things going into the half. It was a play made
possible thanks to a fifteen yard penalty for roughing the passer and
targeting by Tulsa’s Petera Wilson, who hammered Milton, helmet to
helmet.
But Tulsa would own the third quarter.
On what would have been the Knight’s first possession of
the second half, Chris Johnson muffed the punt – the ball bounced off
his face mask and directly into the arms of Cristian Williams to give
the Golden Hurricanes excellent field position. The Tulsa drive ended in
a fifteen yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Josh Atkinson. With the
extra point, Tulsa went up 21-14.
Again UCF failed to get anything going on offense and
Tulsa took the opportunity to extend the lead. Evans would hit Keevan
Lucas for a 45 yard touchdown pass as Lucas backpedaled into the end
zone.
In the closing moments of the third quarter, D’Angelo
Brewer tacked on another touchdown and the Golden Hurricane made it
34-14. All five of Tulsa’s touchdown drives to this point had been under
a minute (Dang, guess who was worried about that?).
But the Knights flirted with giving the fans some hope.
Freshman Running Back Adrian Killins Jr. would get a touchdown for the
Knights early in the fourth (but Tulsa’s Jerry Uwaezouke blocked the
extra point). It was UCF’s first and only offensive touchdown of the
night.
The Knights fall to 6-5 with a very tough game against
rival USF on Saturday. With a season finale against a bad Cincinnati
team, Tulsa will likely end the regular season 9-3.
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