KnightNews.com has a crew in Louisville Kentucky to cover UCF’s critical game against the No. 8 Cardinals.
Follow @UCFKnightNews for instant updates on twitter, and see quarterly recaps below that:
Tweets by @UCFKnightNews
Quarterly updates from the press box will be posted below. Refresh for recaps:
All set for an 8 PM kickoff here in Louisville, the teams have taken to the locker rooms and are awaiting the initial coin flip.
First Quarter
Louisville has won the toss and deferred, UCF is back to receive the kick.
UCF drove down the field with apparent ease with their first possession, marching 60 yards down to the 13 yard line. In an effort to get on the board early, Bortles slipped up and threw an interception in the back of the end zone.
Taking over at the 20 yard line, Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater leads his team to their 5th opening drive touchdown by conducting an 11 play, 80 yard drive. The Heisman hopeful was 7-8 with 80 yards through the air.
The Cardinals’ second possession looked much like their dominant first drive, but ended with a Ryan Hubble fumble at the Knights’ goal line, hitting the pylon before going out of bounds and giving UCF the ball at their 20 yard line. The Knights end the quarter on 3rd and 1 from their own 29.
Second Quarter
The Knights got away with a risky move early in the second quarter, electing to go for it on a 4th and 1 from their own 29. An offsides penalty on Louisville advanced the offense before a snap could be taken, moving UCF forward to the 35. However, the unit couldn’t continue their progress, reaching only the 44 yard line before being forced to punt on 4th and 10.
The defense put together their first three and out against Bridgewater and company on their third drive, finally seeming to disrupt the explosive Cardinals’ offense.
Finally, the offense seemed to click in the second quarter, putting together a 9 play, 71 yard drive capped off by a 4 yard William Stanback touchdown. Bortles had 35 yards through the air and 16 on the ground to advance his team. The rushing yards all came on a clutch 2nd and 15 in which the UCF signal caller elected to take off after not seeing an open gold jersey.
Louisville came back with a vengeance on their following possession. The Cardinals needed only 3 minutes and 15 seconds to put themselves back on top with a 10 play, 75 yard drive, finishing with a 10 yard touchdown pass from Bridgewater to Devante Parker.
The scoring drive left 58 seconds on the clock for the Knights to make a last first half impact, taking over at the 20 yard line. UCF elected to run the clock down to zero and not test the elite Cardinals’ defense. Headed into the 3rd quarter, the score lies at 14-7 Louisville.
Third Quarter
After deferring the pick before the game, Louisville received the kick to begin the second half. The running game was more successful than it had been all game against the UCF defense, managing to accumulate 53 yards on the ground, including a 20 yard Dominique Brown TD run. The 53 yards were more than the Cardinals had put together in the entire first half.
The Knights answered with a fumble by punter Caleb Houston on the 40 yard line, which Louisville wide receiver James Quick returned for a 30 yard touchdown to put the Cardinals up 28-7. The touchdown made it 14 unanswered points to start the second half.
A beautiful, arcing 35 yard pass from Bortles to Perriman along the right sideline on their next drive setup an eventual 1 yard touchdown run by Storm Johnson late in the third quarter to decrease the deficit to a 28-14 game. The drive took 6 plays and traveled 74 yards, giving the offense a bit of the momentum lost.
In a huge moment for UCF, linebacker Sean Magg recovered a Lousiville fumble on the very next drive on the 15 yard line. With apparent ease, Storm Johnson took a checkdown pass from Blake Bortles 20 yards for a UCF touchdown, putting the Knights within one score of a 28-21 game.
After once again stopping the Louisville offense and taking the ball back with great field position at their own 44, it took only 3 explosive plays for UCF to put the ball into the end zone again against this top-ranked defense. Bortles connected with Rannell Hall for a 14 yard gain, and William Stanback did the rest. The redshirt freshman took the ball 30 yards on one carry down to the 12 yard line, then finished the drive with a 12 yard burst on the very next play, evening everything up at 28.
Fourth Quarter
The Cardinals began the final quarter with a punt on their initial possession, gaining only 13 yards on five plays. The corresponding punt put UCF at their own 31 yard line with the game tied at 28.
UCF continued their success moving the chains, moving the ball with ease to the Louisville 29 yardline with the aid of a 16 yard scamper by Storm Johnson. After moving down to the 17, the Knights lost their momentum and were forced to kick a 34 yard field goal.
Bridgewater intended to answer for the Cardinals on their next drive, on fourth and five at the 50 yard line the offense stayed on the field. Bridgewater launched it deep right and incomplete, but it was called for pass interference giving Louisville new life on a drive that seemed finished. It ended up being capped by a 15 yard run by Dominique Brown.
UCF would receive the ball on their own 25 down 35-31 with 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter. on 3rd and 4 Louisville got called for an offsides giving UCF an easy 1st and 10 early in the drive. Then after 2 quick long completions by Bortles it was 1st and 10 at the Louisville 19. After 2 incompletions UCF was caught in a 3rd and ten situation at the Louisville 19 yard line. Josh Reese caught a pass good for 14 yards and 1st and goal on Louisville’s 5 yard line with 33 seconds left. Then with 23 seconds remaining and no timeouts left. Bortles completed a 2 yard pass to Jeff Godfrey giving the Knights the lead, 38-35.
On the final drive, Bridgewater launched a hail mary to no avail. UCF pulls of the upset and beats #8 Louisville 38-35.
