ORLANDO, Fla. – In a game desperately needed by both teams to stay relevant in the Big 12, it came down to a final series with the Cincinnati Bearcats needing a stop against UCF's Knights. Starting on their own 19-yard line with 58 seconds on the clock, UCF quarterback Jacurri Brown drove the Knights down to the UC 25-yard line. A touchdown and extra point would send the home fans happy.
With three seconds left, Florida native Jared Bartlett teamed with fellow linebacker Jake Golday to sack Brown for the win as the Bearcats prevailed on the road 19-13 against the Knights.
"It was a great effort we had as a defense," Bartlett said. "We did a really good job today playing complementary football with the offense. In the middle of the season, good teams get better. Teams that don't take that step forward fall apart. It was very important for us to go out and ball today."
The Bearcats are 4-2 (2-1 Big 12). UCF drops to 3-3 (1-2) and has lost three straight.
UC quarterback Brendan Sorsby was 24 for 37 with a touchdown to Tony Johnson and 241 overall yards through the air. Corey Kiner ran for 83 yards and tight end Joe Royer and Johnson had eight catches each. UCF outgained UC 397-338. The Bearcats gained 40 more yards through the air while UCF had nearly 99 more yards rushing and held UC to an uncharacteristic 97 yards on the ground.
"I did what I could and the defense did what they could and we came out with a win," Kiner said. "It was a good team win."
Mission accomplished as R.J. Harvey is kept below the century mark
Harvey was a thorn in UC's side in last season's loss and came into the game with 600 yards rushing. Harvey was held below 100 yards for a third straight game as UC checked him at 94. All three UCF losses have come with Harvey not reaching triple figures.
"That was the main focus for us this week, to shut down the run game big time," UC's Jake Golday said. "That's what they resort to and that's what we needed to stop so they can start passing the ball so we can get after it in the passing game."
Golday had five tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery (all on one play that set up an early UC field goal).
The Bearcats 'bounce' home with a road win
They played to less than a capacity crowd as Hurricane Milton forced many students out of the area. Still, FPC Mortgage Stadium a/k/a "The Bounce House" is a noisy venue with actual and pumped-in racket reverberating off the circle of aluminum seats. The announced attendance was 42,611.
UC held UCF to 13 points, equaling what they had against Florida last week. It was UC's lowest offensive point production of the season.
"What a ballgame!" UC coach Scott Satterfield said wiping his brow with his cap. "That's a great win for our guys, a very resilient win. Coming off a bye week, we were extremely banged up. We had great offensive rhythm in the first five games and did not have it tonight. The sign of a good team is when you're not having your best on one side, the other side picking you up. I thought our defense did an excellent job of picking us up."
UCF starts a new quarterback
After two straight losses, UCF coach Gus Malzahn benched starter K.J. Jefferson in favor of 17-year-old freshman E.J. Colson. Colson was not listed on the UCF two-deep chart and had not played a down all season.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder reclassified from Cedar Grove High School in Ellenwood, Georgia and came out after his junior season. His stay was brief as he was 1-for-4 passing in the first quarter for minus-6 yards and he had three rushes for six yards.
Midway through the first quarter, the Knights inserted Brown who had been listed as Jefferson's backup. Brown finished the game 13-for-20 for 207 yards and a touchdown and ran for 84 yards.
"We just felt like we needed a spark," Malzahn said. "E.J. had two or three really good weeks of practice and we felt like he deserved to start. We were going to play JB (Jacurri Brown) too. He did some really good things. Right now, we've got to play clean football to win and we didn't play clean enough to win."
Brown was sacked three times and Colson once.
Who best weathered the storm?
Though Hurricane Milton left Florida early Thursday morning, UCF players had to adjust their practice schedules and ride out the storm.
The Cincinnati Bearcats didn't have to hide from anything but did have some uncertainty in their minds if the game would be played. The Bearcats could have realistically been up 27-3 at half instead of 10-3 as Sorsby threw a pair of red zone interceptions and Nathan Hawks missed a 36-yard field goal before halftime.
The missed scores hurt as UCF scored on its opening drive of the third quarter to tie the game. Fortunately, UC survived the football storm put up by the Knights in the final seconds.
"The defense really stepped up tonight," Sorsby said. "They played a really great game. I think we drove the ball really well. There was a couple stupid throws on my end. We've just got to finish drives. I've got to be smarter with the ball."
Was it the luck of the Irish?
The Bearcats wore the same uniform combination they did when 7th-ranked UC won at No. 9 Notre Dame in 2021 on their way to the College Football Playoff semifinal. Red helmets, white jerseys, black pants prevailed and they held UCF to 13 points, the same total they held Notre Dame to in 2021. Granted, UCF is not Notre Dame but they began the season scoring 57, 45 and 35 points. In their last three games, all losses, they've had 21, 13 and 13.
How did the Florida Bearcats fare?
Offensive starters Xzavier Henderson (Miami) and Tony Johnson (Ocala) are native Floridians as are defensive starters Jared Bartlett (Miami) and Jordan Young (Tampa). Running back Manny Covey is from Starke. Defensive back Kye Stokes reunited with his brother, UCF receiver Kason Stokes, both from Tampa.
Bartlett caused a fumble that stopped UCF's first scoring opportunity and later had a sack in the first half. He finished tied with Antwan Peek Jr. in tackles with seven and record two sacks. Johnson equaled tight end Joe Royer in receptions with eight and found the end zone shortly after going down injured inside the 10-yard line.
"I wasn't going to let one play get me down," Johnson said. "I've got all week to recover. It's that Bearcat mentality. I'm not going to be able to get those minutes back. I want to be out there for my team."
Johnson came into the game with 12 receptions in the previous five games. UC was missing Tyrin Smith and Aaron Turner due to injury.
The case for (Deshawn) Pace
The leading tackler for UC last year came to UCF via the transfer portal and came into the game against his old teammates leading the Knights in tackles and with two interceptions. Pace came across the field before the game and greeted some of his old teammates.
He finished the game with just one tackle.
Defensive back Bryon Threats also transferred to UCF, but ended his Knights career after four games returning to the transfer portal. Running back Myles Montgomery joined Pace and Threats. Montgomery played briefly with three carries for six yards.
Next on the Big 12 menu?
The Bearcats return home where they host Arizona State for Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 19 at noon at Nippert Stadium. The annual Homecoming Parade along Clifton Avenue begins at 8 a.m. The 5-1 Sun Devils are coming off a Friday night thriller where they beat No. 16 Utah 27-19 as Cam Skattebo ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner. Showing the weight of preseason polls, Arizona State was picked last by Big 12 media.
UCF travels to No. 11 Iowa State which played at West Virginia Saturday night.
