In a battle of 0-3 Big 12 teams, the UCF Knights dominated the West Virginia Mountaineers in all phases for a 45-13 win. It’s time for some Knee-Jerk Reactions.
Offensive Supremacy Ruined by Bad Decisions
In the first half, the Knights’ offense outplayed the Mountaineer defense, but the score did not correctly reflect that dominance. Despite being banged up, quarterback Tayven Jackson had a solid first half, going 16/23 for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Those two touchdowns were scored on fourth down as Jackson found Chris Domercant both times, one for 40 yards and one for 39 yards. The Knights had 250 yards of offense, but only 14 points. This was due to some questionable short-yardage calls. With running back Stacy Gage out after getting injured during a kickoff, head coach Scott Frost ran Myles Montgomery. On 3rd or 4th and two or less, the Knights struggled. In the first quarter, the Knights had 3rd and two at their own 38 and ended up turning it over on downs after two Montgomery runs. The first run was up the middle, and the second one was to the outside on the right. He didn’t have the speed to the edge and turn upfield. In the second quarter, UCF had 3rd and one at the West Virginia 13 and ran Montgomery up the middle twice for no gain. It is safe to say that the Knights left points on the board. Another interesting note is that quarterback Davi Belfort was QB2 and played a couple of plays. On each play, he ran the ball, so if Frost were trying to give Jackson a break, one would think a running back would get the ball.
In the second half, Frost and company worked to get the ball into running back Jaden Nixon’s hands more, and it paid off big time. He scored from 12 yards out on an outside run, where Montgomery gave an excellent lead block to open the edge. The second big run for Nixon occurred when he squeezed through the right side into the second level and turned on the jets en route to an 83-yard touchdown. The running game is still inconsistent. Between Montgomery(9) and Nixon(3), they had 12 plays of three yards or less. Coach Frost did stress that consistency is still an issue.
Jackson played pretty well in the second half. He did throw one interception where his receiver, Waden Charles, looked over the wrong shoulder on a bomb and slowed down slightly. Other than that, he kept the mistakes at a reasonable level. He was pulled midway through the fourth quarter after the game was out of reach. Belfort came back in and scored his first touchdown. Longtime fifth-stringer Brock Hansel got a little playing time during garbage time.
The Defense Created a One-Dimensional Offense
It’s no secret that West Virginia is having a rough season. They were 2-4 coming into the game and, like UCF, were 0-3 in conference play. The Mountaineers turned to freshman quarterback Scotty Fox Jr, and he was largely ineffective as a passer. He held on to the ball too long, and his progressions were too slow. The Knights’ defense made him pay as he had one completion in the first quarter and was sacked four times. West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez would replace Fox with Khalil Wilkins, who is a runner. In the first half, Wilkins was very effective on the ground. He ran for double-digit yardage three times and scored a touchdown. His arm, however, was not as potent. This rendered the Mountaineers into a one-dimensional run offense, and the Knights were able to focus on the ground game.
By the time the game was over, the two quarterbacks went a combined 11/28 for 79 yards. They were sacked seven times for 35 yards lost and fumbled twice. One of those fumbles was recovered by UCF’s Keli Lawson, who ran it for a 32-yard defensive touchdown. No Mountaineer ran for more than 50 yards on the ground, and the team only had 210 yards of total offense. The last touchdown was scored in garbage time on a one-yard drive.
What Now?
The Knights needed this badly. UCF had not won a game in October since 2022 and was on a nine-game October losing streak. With that dubious streak broken, the Knights have a bye week before they begin the final stretch of the season. UCF needs two more wins to become bowl eligible. The timing of the bye week is good, too, as several players are nursing injuries, including Cam Fancher, who has two broken ribs, and Jackson, who has been dealing with shoulder issues.
Uniform Review
For Homecoming, UCF went with its gold helmets, standard black tops, and bottoms. Over the last few seasons, the equipment staff created fauxback uniforms for their homecoming game. The team would still wear a standard jersey and pants, but would slap an old logo on the helmet to create that fauxback combination. This year, they didn’t do anything unique. While the gold/black/black combination works, not doing anything special for homecoming was a missed opportunity.
Stat Leaders:
Passing:
UCF: Tayven Jackson: 23/34 for 277 yards, 2 TD, 1 Int
West Virginia: Scotty Fox Jr: 6/17 for 47 yards, 0 TD, 0 Int
Rushing:
UCF: Jaden Nixon: 7 carries for 116 yards, 2 TD
West Virginia: Khalil Wilkins: 15 carries for 48 yards, 1 TD
Receiving:
UCF: Chris Domercant: 5 catches for 89 yards, 2 TD
West Virginia: Justin Smith-Brown: 2 catches for 27 yards, 0 TD
Game Notes:
- West Virginia leads the series 4-1.
- UCF has won a game in October for the first time since 2022. They had lost the previous nine games in October.
- UCF recorded seven sacks for the first time since 2007 against Marshall. It is the fourth time it’s been done in school FBS history.
- This is the first time since 2019 against East Carolina that UCF has had two or more 90-yard touchdown drives in a single game.
- Jaden Nixon now has four touchdown runs of 50 yards or more.
- Sorry, it’s not my best, but I already started my bye week.
