TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati football program appears to be facing a longer climb to get back near the top of the American Athletic Conference than anyone realized at the start of the season.
But a long climb in distance doesn't always have to be long in duration.
Remember, just two years ago the same Central Florida program that arrived at UC on Saturday night with a 3-0 record and a No. 25 national ranking suffered through an 0-12 season that included a 52-7 loss to the Bearcats.
Now here were those same Knights, in just their second year under head coach Scott Frost, putting a 51-23 shellacking on the Bearcats before 27,253 fans at Nippert Stadium in a game that was called with four seconds left in the third quarter due to lightning and heavy rain.
The Bearcats were overwhelmed by UCF (4-0 overall, 2-0 in the AAC) and absorbed their third straight loss and sixth straight conference loss dating back to last season. UCF's 51 points were the most scored against the Bearcats since they lost at South Florida, 65-27, on Nov. 20, 2015.
Play was suspended due to lightning at 10:35 p.m. and heavy rain began to fall moments after the field was cleared. By 11 p.m., rain was cascading in sheets across the empty stadium. At 11:42 p.m. the conference decided not to resume the game after a one-hour and seven-minute delay.
"There were a lot of firsts for me," said UC coach Luke Fickell. "This is obviously a first how the game ended. A lot of firsts out there, not having a whole lot of answers, not being able to put ourselves in some positions to give us an opportunity."
Fickell said he was opposed to the decision not to resume the game, but that he understood why the league made the decision it made.
"I was asked and I said no," Fickell said. "There's no way I would ever give into that. I'm sure cooler heads prevailed and what it really came down to was the safety of our student-athletes. I think in the long run that's how they convinced me. I guess I didn't have a complete say in it, but I would never be able to stand in front of my team and look at those guys in the face and know that we weren't able to go out there and keep swinging."
The speedy UCF offense received minimal resistance from UC's defense, gaining 515 total yards, 385 in the first half. It was the second time this season that the Bearcats surrendered more than 500 yards, and this time they did it three quarters. UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton completed 16 of 19 passes for 374 yards and a career-high five touchdown passes. Tre'Quan Smith caught five passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored a rushing touchdown.
UC quarterback Hayden Moore ran for a career-high 75 yards on 13 carries with two rushing touchdowns. He completed 23 of 40 passes for 278 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The Knights improved to 4-0 overall, 2-0 in the AAC. UC fell to 2-4, 0-2 and will face No. 18 South Florida next week in Tampa.
If there was a bright spot for UC, it was the offense's ability to move the ball against a UCF defense that entered the game having allowed an average of 309.3 yards per game, which ranked second in the American.
"Our offense did a good job," Fickell said. "Even when they didn't score they still moved the football from the get-go. I just got done talking to Coach Frost and he said that's as good as a team has moved the ball on them all year. There's some growth. We had an opportunity to make some plays down the field. You got to see Mike Boone get back involved in the offense. He's a guy that's a big deal for us. He can provide and bring a lot of sparks for us."
Defensively, the Bearcats were simply unable to contain UCFs high-powered offense.
"We've got to be smarter," Fickell said. "We've got to try to get guys in better places, in better positions. Sometimes that means moving guys around a little bit. There were speed factors and some things that got exposed a little bit."
UCF needed only 1:21 to score its first touchdown on a 54-yard pass from Milton to Dredrick Snelson, who caught the ball just outside the UC 30 and raced untouched into the end zone. After a UC punt, the Knights set up on their own 21. On the first play of their second drive, Milton threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to Smith. UCF's 2-point conversion pass attempt failed and the Knights had a 13-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
The Bearcats responded with a 12-play, 82-yard drive to cut the UCF lead to 13-7 on Moore's 2-yard run with 4:48 left in the first quarter. The extra point was kicked by Ryan Jones, who usually handles only kickoffs for the Bearcats.
UCF's offensive players didn't miss a beat and quickly moved downfield for their third touchdown of the first quarter, with Tay McGowan scoring from one yard out at the end of an 8-play, 75-yard drive to make it 20-7. UCF finished the first quarter with 213 yards.
The Bearcats drove into UCF territory and appeared to be moving toward another score when Moore's pass was intercepted by Knights' defensive end Seyvon Lowrey at the UC 31-yard line with 14:00 left in the second quarter.
After the turnover, the UC defense scored a moral victory when it held the Knights to a 47-yard field goal by Matthew Wright. During that drive UC's Mark Wilson sacked Milton for a 9-yard loss. It was the first time this season that the Knights had allowed a sack and loomed as the defensive highlight of the night for the Bearcats.
Following a UC punt, UCF drove 95 yards on four plays and scored on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Milton to Michael Colubiale. The key play in the drive was a 47-yard run by Marlon Williams, who broke three UC tackles along the way.
On the Bearcats' next possession, facing third and eight from the UC 37, Moore connected with Boone for 39 yards to the UCF 26. Two plays later, Moore ran 16 yards for his second rushing touchdown of the night. The extra point attempt was blocked and UC trailed, 30-13, with 3:57 left in the half.
UCF needed all of 52 seconds to score again. This time the Knights covered 69 yards on three plays, with Milton throwing 41 yards to Smith for the touchdown.
The Bearcats capped the first half with a 26-yard field goal by Jones as time expired and headed to the locker room, trailing UCF, 37-16. The Knights gained 385 yards in the half, gaining an average of 14.8 yards per play.
The first half was riddled with penalties for the Bearcats, who committed eight of them for 69 yards and finished with nine for 74 yards. There were three false starts, an illegal snap, an ineligible receiver downfield and three personal fouls, along with two dropped passes. UCF was called for eight penalties for 44 yards.
UCF started the second half by driving 70 yards on 10 plays, with Smith scoring on a 3-yard run to make it 44-16. The Bearcats put together a 75-yard touchdown with Moore passing one yard to Gerrid Doaks to make it 44-23 with 4:19 left in the third quarter.
But UCF's offense was relentless. The Knights matter-of-factly romped down the field for another TD, covering 60 yards in four plays that took 1:32. That made it 51-23 with a full quarter still to plays. Or so everyone thought.
But before long the weather took over. As it turned out, that was the only thing all night that was able to stop the UCF offense.
"It's a roller coaster," Fickell said. "I told those guys I'm gonna focus on the seniors. I'm gonna get up every single day from here on out the entire rest of the season and those are the guys I'm gonna think about. I'm gonna think about what they've done, what they've been through and what I can do to give them an opportunity to put them in a better position to be successful and make this experience these last (six) games something to remember. We've all got to have motivations and I know darn well that's gonna be my motivation."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January, 2015.