The UCF football team’s first-ever top 25 ranking lasted a mere week before Southern Miss swarmed into Bright House Networks Stadium and handed the Knights their first conference loss of the season in a 31-21 defeat. After an exciting week, in which the Knights garnered national attention with a #25 ranking in the AP Poll and a #23 ranking in the USA Today Coach’s Poll, UCF was delivered a disheartening blow in their final regular season home game and stripped of their unblemished league record.
Barring the unexpected, the Knights will probably not be ranked for the remainder of the season. UCF (7-3, 5-0 C-USA) appeared poised to defend their ranking, racing off to a 14-0 start against the Golden Eagles (7-3, 4-2 C-USA), before Southern Miss was able to reel off 31 unanswered points, while completely shutting down the UCF offense and ending the team’s five-game winning streak.
The Knights offense simply went cold after the first quarter until they finally scored again late in the fourth quarter on a 40-yard touchdown pass to Jamar Newsome, however, the game was already out of reach. The Southern Miss defense hounded true freshman quarterback Jeff Godfrey all game, sacking him three times and forcing two interceptions, while limiting his usually spectacular running attack to six yards on 12 carries.
“Offensively, we didn’t make enough plays,” Coach George O’Leary said in a post-game press conference. “We didn’t get the running game established. That’s really what happened out there.”
Fortunately for the Knights, they still hold on to first place in the East Division as they own the tie-breaker with ECU, who also has a 5-1 conference record. However, there is no room for error now if UCF wants to represent the East Division in the Conference-USA championship, as well as host the game in Orlando.
The road to defend their spot on top begins with Tulane on Saturday. The Knights will travel to New Orleans to take on a weaker Tulane team that is 2-4 in the conference and 4-6 overall. However, UCF can’t take any opponent lightly now and the Green Wave are coming off a 54-49 victory over Rice last week.
While Tulane ranks at the bottom in most offensive categories, they boast one of the best secondary’s in the conference, limiting opponents to 198 yards per game in the air, a conference best.
UCF will need to come out strong and exert their dominance early in order to avoid a close game away from home. The dynamic duo of Godfrey and running back Ronnie Weaver will need to be back in full force this week and guide the Knight offense like it had been doing so effectively before the loss to Southern Miss.
Weaver notched his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the year with 112 yards against Southern Miss, however most of those yards came in the first quarter. He will be looked to have a big game this week, especially considering the talent of Tulane’s secondary and the weakness of their rush defense, which ranks in the bottom three of the conference.
Additionally, the UCF defense will need climb out of the slump it’s currently in. Although they still rank at the top in the conference in most defensive categories, the Knight ‘D’ has uncharacteristically allowed 30 or more points in their last three games. They will need to contain Tulane RB Orleans Darkwa, who has 731 yards and eight rushing touchdowns so far this season.
This is a game the Knights should win. If they can control the tempo, execute their offense (especially the ground attack) effectively, and get their defense back to its usual dominance, UCF shouldn’t have a problem beating Tulane. With so much at stake, they just need to stay focused and keep their eyes on their goal- winning the Conference-USA championship.
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
