Well, that game was a comedy of errors.
On Houston’s side, Greg Ward threw three interceptions in
the first half and then the Cougars fumbled immediately to open the
second half when Ward and Duke Catalon could not complete a zone-read
handoff.
UCF happily reciprocated in the second half with four turnovers of its own: two interceptions and two fumbles.
Houston surged back to life and took the lead for the
first time in the game with 7:27 left to play. The Cougars held on for
the 31-24 win.
As my colleague Chas stated in the preview,
it has not been a happy three weeks for the Cougars. They became
marginally happier after the win over UCF but it wasn’t pretty and
required an 21-point comeback in the second half to solidify.
In the first half, Houston looked tired and uninterested.
The Cougars finished the first quarter with a no points and a net of
ZERO rushing yards — and two interceptions by Ward.
On the first, his intended receiver Chance Allen fell
down on the play and could not complete his route. On the second, the
pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage.
Regardless, the Knights raced out to 14-3 lead and tacked on another TD before halftime to take a 21-3 lead into the break.
UCF outgained Houston on the ground in the first half 95
yards to -12 yards. Yes, the Cougars totaled negative rushing yards in
the first half thanks to three sacks on Ward and a muffed snap that lost
eight yards.
UH had no fire. No passion. No running game. No downfield
strikes. No fluidity. The Cougars also gave up big penalties at bad
times that helped UCF sustain drives.
The Knights mounted scoring drives of 47, 54 and 82 yards
in the first half. Ironically, as you’ll see by the final rushing
totals, all three TDs came on the ground: one by Jawon Hamilton, one by
Adrian Killins and one by Dontravious Wilson.
But that was where the good times stopped for UCF. The
second half was a complete and total role reversal — except for
Houston’s first drive.
The Cougars gave the sparse crowd even less to cheer
about by fumbling 36 seconds into the third quarter. UCF banked a field
goal to go ahead 24-3 —
But then Houston came to life.
The Coogs scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to claim the victory.
Ward rushed in a QB keeper to get things started after the UCF field goal.
24-10 — UCF
Houston’s Nick Thurman forced a fumble on UCF’s next drive that was recovered by Steven Taylor.
Brandon Wilson ended the Knights’ next drive with an
interception and Ward found tight end Romello Booker in the back of the
end zone for Houston’s next TD.
24-17 — UCF
UCF moved the ball on its next drive ... but then a bad
snap sailed past quarterback McKenzie Milton and he recovered it for a
13-yard loss that forced a punt.
Two drives later, Wilson picked off Milton again. Both
teams struggled through the end of the third quarter, but Houston
started scoring again in the fourth.
Catalon, who was helped off the field in the first half
with what looked to be a painful left leg injury, busted a run around
the left side for a 12-yard touchdown.
24-24
Milton was sacked and threw two incomplete passes and the ball returned to Houston.
Ward, Catalon and Dillon Birden worked the ball down the
field and the drive ended with a 14-yard TD rush by Ward with 7:27 left
in the game.
31-24 — Houston
Thus ended the scoring.
Overall, it was a rough game on both sides. Houston had just enough in the second half to grab the win.
The Cougars gave up four sacks. The Knights gave up
three. Both teams turned the ball over four times. The most devastating
part for UCF was that it rushed for a net of just 40 yards.
But the highlight for the Knights was that receiver
Tre’Quan Smith hauled in 13 passes for 137 yards, a personal best. He
found open holes in the Houston secondary and when Milton had time to
pass, Smith was hard to stop.
NEXT WEEK: Houston has a bye. UCF is back home to face Tulane.
No comments:
Post a Comment