TicketsORLANDO – The No. 20/19-ranked Cincinnati football suffered its first conference loss of the season, falling 25-21 to UCF on Saturday at FBC Mortgage Stadium.
Cincinnati is now 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the AAC.
Redshirt senior quarterback Ben Bryant finished 24-of-45 for 298 yards and a touchdown, while senior wide receiver Tre Tucker tallied a game-high 10 receptions for 110 yards.
UCF's RJ Harvey recorded his second rushing touchdown of the game with 48 seconds remaining to take the final lead for the Knights.
After both teams opened the game by trading punts, UCF used a seven-play, 53-yard drive to get into the red zone and settled for a 26-yard field goal from Colton Boomer to move ahead 3-0 at 8:50 in the first quarter.
UCF jumped out to a 10-0 lead on a rushing score from Harvey and totaled 176 yards in the first quarter.
The Blackcats' defense forced a punt at the start of the second quarter before Bryant found junior wide receiver Jadon Thompson for a 32-yard gain and senior Tre Tucker for a 21-yard catch to convert a third-and-15 and set up senior kicker Ryan Coe for a 33-yard field goal that brought Cincinnati within a score, 10-3.
Knights' quarterback John Rhys Plumlee exited the game due to injury in the second quarter and did not return. Backup, Mikey Keene, finished 15-of-21 for 176 yards.
The Bearcats cut the deficit to one score, 10-6, on another 33-yard field goal from Coe before the half.
Early in the third quarter, senior linebacker Ty Van Fossen forced a fumble on UCF running back Isaiah Bowser at the UC 2-yard-line, and junior linebacker Deshawn Pace recovered, preventing a touchdown and gifting Cincinnati the ball back at its own 2-yard line. On third-and-4, however, Bryant was sacked in the end zone for a safety giving UCF a 12-6 advantage at 7:52 in the third quarter.
After the Knights drove down the field into Cincinnati territory, UCF running back Harvey dropped a handoff at the Cincinnati 17, and redshirt freshman nose tackle Dontay Corleone scooped up the Bearcats' second fumble recovery of the game. Bryant took advantage of the miscue and followed it by completing 6-of-9 passes on a 10-play 84-yard drive that was a capped by a 14-yard touchdown reception by senior tight end Josh Whyle that gave Cincinnati its first lead of the game, 13-12, with seven seconds left in the third quarter.
It marks the 15th career receiving touchdown to set the program record, breaking a tie with Brent Celek, who had 14 from 2003-06.
UCF would take the lead again when Knights' Isiah Bowser found paydirt from three yards out with 4:30 left in the game to make the score 18-13.
Senior running back Ryan Montgomery outran the second level of the defense for 39-yard touchdown with 3:04 remaining and Bryant connected with junior receiver Tyler Scott for the two-point conversion to give the Bearcats' a 21-18 edge.
After Harvey's touchdown put UCF in front, 25-21, Cincinnati had one last chance with 48 seconds left and no timeouts. Bryant was sacked on first down, however, and the Bearcats were unable to get a first down.
// UP NEXT
Cincinnati returns home to face Navy on Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. on ESPNU.
Cincinnati is now 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the AAC.
Redshirt senior quarterback Ben Bryant finished 24-of-45 for 298 yards and a touchdown, while senior wide receiver Tre Tucker tallied a game-high 10 receptions for 110 yards.
UCF's RJ Harvey recorded his second rushing touchdown of the game with 48 seconds remaining to take the final lead for the Knights.
After both teams opened the game by trading punts, UCF used a seven-play, 53-yard drive to get into the red zone and settled for a 26-yard field goal from Colton Boomer to move ahead 3-0 at 8:50 in the first quarter.
UCF jumped out to a 10-0 lead on a rushing score from Harvey and totaled 176 yards in the first quarter.
The Blackcats' defense forced a punt at the start of the second quarter before Bryant found junior wide receiver Jadon Thompson for a 32-yard gain and senior Tre Tucker for a 21-yard catch to convert a third-and-15 and set up senior kicker Ryan Coe for a 33-yard field goal that brought Cincinnati within a score, 10-3.
Knights' quarterback John Rhys Plumlee exited the game due to injury in the second quarter and did not return. Backup, Mikey Keene, finished 15-of-21 for 176 yards.
The Bearcats cut the deficit to one score, 10-6, on another 33-yard field goal from Coe before the half.
Early in the third quarter, senior linebacker Ty Van Fossen forced a fumble on UCF running back Isaiah Bowser at the UC 2-yard-line, and junior linebacker Deshawn Pace recovered, preventing a touchdown and gifting Cincinnati the ball back at its own 2-yard line. On third-and-4, however, Bryant was sacked in the end zone for a safety giving UCF a 12-6 advantage at 7:52 in the third quarter.
After the Knights drove down the field into Cincinnati territory, UCF running back Harvey dropped a handoff at the Cincinnati 17, and redshirt freshman nose tackle Dontay Corleone scooped up the Bearcats' second fumble recovery of the game. Bryant took advantage of the miscue and followed it by completing 6-of-9 passes on a 10-play 84-yard drive that was a capped by a 14-yard touchdown reception by senior tight end Josh Whyle that gave Cincinnati its first lead of the game, 13-12, with seven seconds left in the third quarter.
It marks the 15th career receiving touchdown to set the program record, breaking a tie with Brent Celek, who had 14 from 2003-06.
UCF would take the lead again when Knights' Isiah Bowser found paydirt from three yards out with 4:30 left in the game to make the score 18-13.
Senior running back Ryan Montgomery outran the second level of the defense for 39-yard touchdown with 3:04 remaining and Bryant connected with junior receiver Tyler Scott for the two-point conversion to give the Bearcats' a 21-18 edge.
After Harvey's touchdown put UCF in front, 25-21, Cincinnati had one last chance with 48 seconds left and no timeouts. Bryant was sacked on first down, however, and the Bearcats were unable to get a first down.
// UP NEXT
Cincinnati returns home to face Navy on Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. on ESPNU.