The Knights took control of the American Athletic Conference and its automatic qualifying BCS-berth bid as they stopped a late Houston rally on Saturday to win 19-14.
The Knights kicked off against the Houston Cougars in Bright House Networks Stadium in a game that was aired on ESPN2 and was promoted as a ‘blackout’ in the first night game of the season. As a team that has relied on its offense to win big games at Penn State and Louisville, the Knights showed resilience in their defense, which came up huge late in the game.
Sponsored Ad – Story Continues Below
The Cougars drove the ball all the way downfield to the UCF 10-yard line in the final minute, but Houston quarterback John O’Korn came up empty on back-to-back incomplete passes to solidify the UCF win in front of a packed stadium.
“I thought defensively, to hold that team to 14 points, and [to have] a great play at the end of the game to save the win, that was a big-time team win,” said UCF Coach George O’Leary.
The Knights struggled in the first half, with two red zone turnovers, including a rare Bortles interception that deflated a UCF eight play drive. It wasn’t until the third quarter when the Knights caught an offensive spark from true freshman Will Stanback, after Breshad Perriman was taken off the field following a targeting call against Houston.
“That’s a brother,” Bortles said in the post game conference. “That was on me a little bit for throwing that ball and kind of setting him up. We finished the game out for him. That gave us a little fire and a little extra motivation to win the game.”
After the Knights were up 19-7, a blocked field goal gave the Cougars life, and a 12-yard pass from O’Korn to Wayne Beadle closed the UCF lead to 19-14.
The Knights struggled to get anything going on the next drive, going three-and-out, giving the Cougars the ball back with 3:02 to play in the game. They moved the ball 55 yards down the field on 11 plays, in which was seemingly with ease. However, the Knights didn’t falter when Houston got into the red zone.
The Knights held the Cougars, and along with that held their spot atop of the American Athletic Conference.
