The UCF Knights (2-2, 1-0 AAC) emerged with a 17-12 victory in their conference opener on the road Thursday night against the Houston Cougars (2-3, 0-1), but it wasn’t pretty for George O’Leary’s squad.
In an overall lackluster game with few highlights, UCF required a dramatic game-winning touchback with time running out to come away with the win. On a 1st-and-goal, Cougars’ backup quarterback Greg Ward Jr. lunged for the end zone for what would have been the go-ahead score with :24 seconds on the clock only to fumble the ball out of the end zone, sealing the win for the Knights.
UCF senior safety Brandon Alexander forced the fumble. Alexander led the Knights with a team-high nine tackles on the night and also grabbed an interception to go along with his game-saving forced fumble.
“The quarterback broke and I just knew his intent was not to pass, it was to run,” Alexander said. “So, he just dove. When he dove, I dove. Everything happens for a reason. …It was a wonderful feeling.”
Unable to generate much offense in the first half, the Knights put 10 points on the board within minutes of opening the second half. Quarterback Justin Holman hit wide receiver Breshad Perriman for a 52-yard touchdown strike to make it 14-6. It was the longest play from scrimmage from either team.
Alexander picked off Houston quarterback John O’Korn on the ensuing possession, setting up a 42-yard field goal from Shawn Moffitt.
The Knights’ defense gave up 331 total yards of offense to Houston, but proved stingy in the red zone, holding the Cougars to four field goals. The defense also recorded five sacks.
“We had the mindset that if that offense scores 14 points we should win the game, even if the offense scores 10 points we should win the game,” said Alexander. “For us not to have them score [touchdowns] we played a heck of a game.”
O’Leary, likely appreciative to escape with the win, was pleased with the overall performance of the defense.
“Houston’s a good offense,” O’Leary said. “I thought, except for a couple series, the defense played well. The back end played very well today and tackled well. We got a little sloppy at the end there.
“Any win is a good win,” he added. “It’s a good first conference game.”
Despite the victory, UCF has plenty of work to do on both sides of the ball to successfully defend its AAC title. The offense must get better at sustaining drives and the defense, despite some key stops on goal-line drives, is inconsistent.
Next up for the Knights is a non-conference game against BYU.
“It’s a great feeling to get our first conference win,” said senior wide receiver Rannell Hall. “It gives us motivation into the next game. We have a non-conference game against BYU next, but we’re still going to approach that game with our foot on the pedal.”
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