UCF can’t overcome penalties, miscues in loss to Louisville

ORLANDO

The disappointment was written all over the faces of UCF players and coaches.

Expectations were high for the Knights entering the season with a conference championship and a possible spot in the College Football Playoff as viable goals. But after their 20-14 home loss to Louisville Friday night, many of those objectives seem further out of reach.

“I just told our guys that we’re going to have to grow from this. We’re going to have to learn from this,” coach Gus Malzahn said following the loss. “It’s not the end of the world as far as our season goes, but it feels like crap right now.”

“This is a terrible feeling,” added offensive lineman Sam Jackson. “We can’t let this divide us. We have a lot of football left, and we can be the exact football team that we want to be.”

UCF (1-1, 0-0 AAC) scored on two of its first three possessions to take a 14-7 lead, but missed opportunities and penalties cost the Knights a chance to add more.

Tailback Johnny Richardson took a swing pass from quarterback John Rhys Plumlee and raced 57 yards past the Cardinals defense for an apparent touchdown with 5:10 left in the first half. But a holding penalty nullified the score and sent UCF into the half with a onescore lead.

In the third quarter, Plumlee found Javon Baker on a post pattern and the transfer receiver raced 75 yards for a score, but it too was nullified by a holding penalty.

Plumlee could not find much rhythm in the second half, going 6-of-16 for 53 yards passing, including 2-of-11 for 39 yards with an interception in the fourth quarter. He finished 16-of-34 for 131 yards but was sacked four times. The senior transfer led the team with 83 yards rushing.

“You’ve got to understand. He hasn’t played quarterback for two years and they threw different looks at him,” Malzahn said of his starting quarterback. “We had a couple of little miscommunication things, but he’s a great competitor and he will bounce back fine.”

Tailback Isaiah Bowser finished with 51 yards and two touchdown runs in the first half. It was his third straight game with two scores and the fifth time he’s scored multiple touchdowns in a game.

The defense held Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham in check throughout the first half but struggled to contain the elusive threat in the third quarter when he scrambled for the goahead touchdown — a 43-yard touchdown run.

“I feel like, for the most part, we did our jobs,” said defensive end Josh Celiscar.

UCF held Cunningham to 14-of-29 for 201 passing yards and 121 yards on the ground, including the long touchdown run.

The Knights finished with 11 penalties for 111 yards. It was the second consecutive game in which the team had double-digit penalties. The last time UCF had back-toback games with doubledigit penalties was in 2020.

UP NEXT

Louisville: The Cardinals will host FSU next Friday.

UCF: The Knights are at FAU next Saturday

AA