A palpable buzz swarmed throughout The Swamp as the Knights poured out of the tunnel behind enemy lines Saturday evening. Cheers initially greeted UCF as fans donning the Black and Gold trekked north and made up parts of the 90,369 in attendance, only to be met with the boos and jeers of the Florida faithful.
The electricity in the venue was apparent, as the two in-state schools were set to clash for just the fourth time, and the first time since the Knights’s 29-17 Gasparilla Bowl victory in 2021. The outcome wasn’t the same this time around, as the Gators jumped out to an early lead, seizing early key moments, propelling them to a 24-13 victory.
“They outplayed us tonight,” said head coach Gus Malzahn. “It was loud and their atmosphere was really good. We dug ourselves a hole in the first quarter and had trouble tackling. They made some explosive plays and offensively, we were 1-of-7 on third down in the first half and you’re not going to be effective like that.”
The Knights entered the contest with a 13-game winning streak against in-state foes, a trend that started early in the 2017 season, a year that would later prove magical for UCF.
The Gators put together a slow yet methodical drive to open the contest, chewing up the first 7:58 while converting all four of their third-down chances. Florida was the first to strike, opening the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Graham Mertz to Elijah Badger.
UCF’s offense ripped off a chunk of yardage on its first play of the evening, a 30-yard screen play to tight end Randy Pittman Jr. Eight consecutive run plays moved the Black and Gold to the 13-yard line, but the drive didn’t go much further, ending with Grant Reddick’s first attempted and made field goal, a demure 27-yarder to get the Knights on the board.
A short return on the ensuing kickoff had Florida pinned inside its own 15-yard line, eventually going three-and-out. UCF tried to capitalize on the defensive stand, but the Gators built a wall of their own, stuffing the Knights on 4th-and-1 at the UCF 43-yard line. Florida flipped the momentum right back in their favor, using a quick three-play drive, highlighted by a 37-yard strike from DJ Lagway, who was fresh into the game at quarterback, to Chimere Dike. The Gators ran the ball on the next play, setting UCF back 14-3 with 12:50 left in the second quarter.
UCF ran just seven plays on the next two drives, leading to the Gators adding another seven points late in the second, a three-yard rushing touchdown with 1:50 left in the first half to put Florida up 21-3.
The Knights were about to go three-and-out on the following drive, but a running into the kicker penalty on the punt plus an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Florida sideline moved the ball from the UCF 31 to the Florida 49-yard line. KJ Jefferson completed back-to-back passes to Kobe Hudson and Trent Whittemore for 14 and six yards, respectively, moving the rock to the 29-yard line. A false start penalty backed the Knights up to the 34, where the drive stalled on a 4th-and-9 sack, the second fourth down opportunity not converted on the evening. The stalled drive turned into points at the other end of the field on a six-play, 46-yard Gator drive that ended in a field goal, sending the teams to the halftime locker room with a 24-3 Florida lead.
The one-for-seven clip on third down told most of the first half’s story, resulting in UCF posting a season low 119 yards in the first half.
The Knights’ defense allowed just one third down conversion after Florida’s four on the opening drive, a sign of things to come in the second half for UCF. The Black and Gold locked down the Gators offense out of the break, holding them to 108 yards and one-for-six on third downs. The defense was unphased with Florida’s quarterback shenanigans, finding effective ways to stop both Mertz and Lagway down the stretch.
The Knights got the ball to start the second half, putting three points on the board thanks to a drive that was started by eight consecutive run plays, seven of which went for four yards or more. UCF continued its grind down the gridiron with a 17-yard jet sweep to Johnny Richardson, followed by a Peny Boone rush for 11 yards on the next play, getting the Knights 10 yards away from the goal line. The Florida defense again stood tall in the redzone, stopping first and second down rushes and sacking Jefferson on third. A 37-yard field goal capped off the nearly eight-and-a-half-minute drive, making the score 24-6 Florida.
UCF’s defense stood tall on Florida’s first drive of the second half, halting the Gators at the 35-yard line and forcing a 53-yard field goal attempt which was pushed wide left.
The Knights got the ball back with 11:25 to go and drove the ball 82 yards, using just 3:35 of clock to register the team’s first touchdown of the game. RJ Harvey was a big part of the journey down the field, hauling in a 35-yard catch down the left sideline and eventually was the one to hit paydirt, scampering for a 13-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 11 at 24-13 with 7:50 left to play. Harvey’s score was his ninth rushing touchdown on the campaign and 30th of his career.
UCF got the ball back with 4:21 left in the game after holding Florida to a five-play drive, but was unable to mount a second straight scoring drive, as a downfield interception slammed the door on the Knights’ comeback effort.
UP NEXT
The Knights return to FBC Mortgage Stadium as they resume Big 12 Conference play, hosting former American Athletic Conference rival Cincinnati. The game kicks off Sat., Oct. 12 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
