ORLANDO — UCF came up short in its quest to hand No. 11 BYU its first loss of the season Saturday, as the Knights fell to the Cougars, 37-24, at FBC Mortgage Stadium. The Cougars jumped out to an early 17-0 lead in the contest and never looked back en route to the victory.
“It’s a disappointing loss, to say the least,” said UCF head coach Gus Malzahn. “Really good team that exposed us on some things. You know, you look at the first quarter, I think we had four or five plays. They had the ball most of the first quarter. Hats off to them. They’re a good team, but we didn’t play our best football, and that’s what disappoints me.”
BYU (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) started fast in the game and controlled the time of possession, owning a 40:28 advantage to UCF’s (3-5, 1-4) 19:32. The Cougars compiled 480 yards of total offense, while the Knights recorded 379 yards.
Jake Retzlaff passed for 228 yards on 16-of-24 attempts with a pair of touchdowns to lead the Cougs and running back LJ Martin rushed for 101 yards on 15 carries to headline BYU’s offense.
RJ Harvey surpassed 100 yards rushing for the 13th time in his career, recording 127 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Orlando native topped 1,000 rushing yards for the season in the contest to become the first UCF running back with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons since Marquette Smith in 1994-95.
Wide receiver Jacoby Jones tallied a season-high 116 receiving yards to compile his first 100-yard receiving game in a UCF uniform. He reeled in six passes to eclipse the century mark for the first time in more than two calendar years (Oct. 8, 2022).
BYU scored on each of its first three drives to jump out to a 17-0 lead before UCF answered with a four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by a two-yard rush from Harvey to cut the margin to 17-7. The Knights forced a punt on the Cougars’ next drive and a few plays later, kicker Grant Reddick connected on a career-long 38-yard field goal.
After cutting it to one possession at 17-10, BYU’s Chase Roberts shed a tackle and raced down the field for a 62-yard touchdown reception to swing the momentum back in favor of the visitors before halftime as the Cougars led 24-10 at the intermission.
Following halftime, BYU outscored UCF 10-0 in the third quarter and pulled away for the victory.
Quarterback Dylan Rizk provided a late-game spark for the Knights, as he led UCF on a pair of scoring drives in the fourth quarter to cut into the deficit. He finished the game 6-for-10 with a career-high 102 yards and a touchdown.The redshirt freshman (4 carries, 31-yards) also ran for a 2-point conversion.
Defensively, Daylan Dotson led the way for the Black and Gold with eight tackles, including seven solo with three tackles for loss and two sacks. He also forced a fumble and had a quarterback hurry in his best performance in a UCF uniform. Nyjalik Kelly contributed seven tackles, while Sheldon Arnold and Quadric Bullard each tallied six.
The Seminole County quartet of Seminole’s Chasen Johnson (4 tackles) and Ja’Cari Henderson (3 tackles), Lake Brantley’s Andrew Harris (3 tackles) and Lake Mary’s Braeden Marshall (2 tackles) had a good day with 12 combined tackles.
Staff Changes
On Monday, Malzahn announced that Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof had been relieved of his duties and Addison Williams will be elevated to Defensive Coordinator and that he (Malzahn) will turn over offensive play calling duties to Tim Harris Jr.
Up Next:
UCF remains at home this week for its annual Space Game when Arizona heads to Orlando. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on FS1 from FBC Mortgage Stadium.
The contest will also be carried on the radio on AM740/FM 96.9 The Game (Play-by-Play _ Marc Daniels; Analyst _ Gary Parris; Reporter _ Scott Adams), with the pregame show starting at 1:30 p.m., and Spanish Radio: UCFKnights.com, YouTube.com/UCFKnights.
Live Stats will be available at _ UCFKnights.com _ and if you would like to comment, use Twitter _ @UCF_Football _ under the Hashtag _ #ChargeOn.
Here is the box score:
BYU 37, UCF 24
BYU (8 - 0, 5 - 0) 7 17 10 3 _ 37
UCF (3 - 5, 1 - 4) 0 10 0 14 _ 24
First Quarter
BYU _ Retzlaff 29 run (Ferrin kick).
Second Quarter
BYU _ Ferrin 41 FG.
BYU _ Martin 15 run (Ferrin kick).
UCF _ Harvey, 2 run (Reddick kick).
BYU _ Roberts 62 pass from Retzlaff (Ferrin kick).
Third Quarter
BYU _ Ta’ase 1 pass from Retzlaff (Ferrin kick).
BYU _ Ferrin 37 FG.
Fourth Quarter
UCF _ Harvey 5 run (Rizk run).
BYU _ Ferrin 36 FG.
UCF _ Jones 29 pass from Rizk (Pass failed).
