Facing the nation’s ninth-ranked team on the road in a raucous environment, the UCF football team was ready for the moment and came within minutes of pulling off the upset before the Cyclones scored with 30 seconds remaining to earn the 38-35 victory Saturday night at Jack Trice Stadium.
“Disappointing way to lose, our guys played and fought hard,” said UCF head coach Gus Malzahn. “We had an opportunity to beat a top 10 team on their home field and we didn’t get it done. We didn’t make the plays when the game was on the line and they did, which was the difference in the game.”
After struggling to run the football in their last few games, the Knights got back to doing what they do best, as the nation’s fourth-ranked rushing offense compiled 354 yards on the ground. That mark is the second most in a Big 12 Conference game this season, behind West Virginia’s 389 against Oklahoma State.
Running back RJ Harvey finished four yards shy of his second career 200-yard rushing performance, but settled for his 12th career 100-yard game with a pair of touchdowns. He became just the fourth Knights player to surpass 3,000 career rushing yards, as he eclipsed the mark on his 80-yard TD run in the second quarter.
The Orlando native now owns 3,105 rushing yards in a UCF uniform – fourth most in the program record books.
