It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
The Knights appeared to be two different teams Saturday in the gut-wrenching 26-24 loss to Penn State at the Croke Park Classic in Dublin, Ireland.
In the first half the offense was stagnant, lethargic and just plain inefficient. After making a quarterback change to bring in Justin Holman in the third quarter, however, they were beyond dynamic – making tough plays in tight coverage, gaining massive chunks of yardage at a time and inspiring a defense that was inconsistent through most of the game.
“That was the spark of the whole day, was Holman going in and moving the chains, and getting things done,” Coach O’Leary said.
Holman finished 9-14 for 204 yards and a touchdown, while adding two rushing touchdowns of one and six yards in less than half a game’s time.
With William Stanback a game-time scratch, there was little to no experience in the offensive backfield. DiNovo had yet to throw a pass for UCF and Dontravious Wilson had only nine carries for ten yards in 2013. The duo catastrophically underwhelmed in the first half, ending the day with 58 total yards between the two on 32 plays where one of them had the ball in their hands.
DiNovo, named the starter in fall even after O’Leary had made it clear he was leaning toward Holman after the spring game, was 3-8 for 18 yards.
“Really, Pete didn’t make plays,” O’Leary said, summing things up simply.
Wilson had 21 carries for 34 yards, with one breakaway for a gain of 16. If you take out that run, he had 20 carries for 18 yards – an average of 0.9 yards per carry.
It wasn’t all his fault though, and O’Leary admitted that there were protection problems throughout the game.
The offensive line allowed seven tackles for a loss, shorting themselves 26 yards. There was not much of a push from them even when defenders didn’t get into the backfield, but under new leadership in the second half, the unit provided seemed revitalized.
Talking about Justin Holman, left tackle Torrian Wilson left the game impressed with the signal caller’s attitude.
“He’s more confident this year. He stepped in the huddle, took control. He got everyone together and pretty much said ‘let’s take this downfield’,” said Wilson.
He was explosive, completing passes of 22, 37, 46 and 50 yards. The clearest picture of the quarterback’s resolve and confidence was when he fired a laser through tight coverage to J.J. Worton that went for 46 yards, while enduring a late hit flagged for roughing the passer. The penalty added another 14 yards, totaling for a 60 yard gain.
“He threw quick and he’s not afraid to zip the ball in there,” O’Leary said when asked about what he liked in Holman’s play.
“He went out there and managed the game, and did what I was hoping we would do all preseason.”
Holman was not initially given the starting gig because of his poor play in the weeks leading up to the opening game. When asked if he had demonstrated this level of playmaking ability at all during practice, O’Leary scoffed.
“If he did, I would have been playing him,” O’Leary insisted, continuing, “he was high, inefficient in his throws.”
DiNovo’s lackluster performance was what finally forced the team’s hand. It was an attempt to shake things up, if only initially for a single series to test the water. But then he completed five consecutive passes and put the ball in the end zone in his first two series with the team.
The changing winds of momentum seemed to swing back and forth like the rise and fall of the ocean’s tides, peaking for UCF when they took the lead for the first time in the game on Holman’s six yard scamper with just over a minute left to play. It was UCF 24, Penn State 23. A storybook ending for the ‘home’ team.
It was not to be.
Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg ran an impressive drive with three timeouts to burn in his back pocket, moving the team 55 yards on eight plays to set up the go-ahead field goal as time wound down.
UCF 24 – Penn State 26.
It was poetic for Penn State after they were unable to complete a comeback against UCF in the 2013 game, even they did score twice in the fourth quarter and pulled within three points with under three minutes on the clock, falling 34-31.
It was a heartbreak of their own, one that the Nittany Lions were all too glad to serve back to the Knights in Dublin.
“Obviously there was a little bit of a sour taste in our mouth after that game because of all the ifs, ands, and buts,” Hackenberg said.
The taste has been washed away, but there is still an enormous amount of respect for the Knights from their opponent.
“That’s a veteran team with a veteran coach,” Penn State Head Coach James Franklin said, giving UCF credit with his final statement of the post-game press conference.
“All the credit in the world to Central Florida.”
A silver lining comes with this cloud of despair, as the future appears to be bright for the once-golden Knights.
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