ORLANDO, Fla. – The Knights got off to a quick start once again, but came out flat after the opening drive and fell 44-7 to East Carolina.
“The only thing that we did good tonight was executing the onside kick,” interim head coach Danny Barrett said. “Other than that and that first drive, it was not a good performance at all.”
UCF came out swinging on their opening drive and Justin Holman connected with Tre’Quan Smith on an 11-yard touchdown. Smith’s performance in the game was one of the long bright spots as he now holds the freshman records for the Knights in both receiving yards and receptions. Unfortunately for the win-less Knights, the Smith touchdown would be the last time that they scored on Thursday night. East Carolina’s first drive resulted in a score as well, however they would continue to score at will as they cut through the Knights defense with ease.
“Well it’s been the story of the whole season, once we get cut we can’t stop the bleeding and that’s what it was again today,” senior defensive end Thomas Niles said.
UCF entered halftime down 31-7 and tried to gather some momentum after recovering a surprise onside kick to open the second half. However, the offense could not capitalize and make any progress against a stingy ECU defense that allowed just 232 yards.
Justin Holman left the game with an injury early on that interim coach Danny Barrett said was a high ankle sprain. Tyler Harris was given the first opportunity to takeover under center, however the redshirt freshman was erratic and only completed two of his 12 passes. True freshman Bo Schneider missed on all three of his pass attempts after he was given a chance in the fourth quarter to try his hand and did not fare any better than Harris.
“I wanted to give [Harris] an opportunity when Justin went down and see what he could do. Last time out he actually performed well, but tonight I felt like he was just off-target,” Barrett said.
Redshirt junior punter Caleb Houston had to punt nine times as the anemic UCF offense struggled to convert first downs. On the other side, East Carolina punted just six times and converted 30 first downs in the beatdown. Junior quarterback Blake Kemp threw for a career-high 448 yards and four touchdowns while junior receiver Isaiah Jones caught 13 passes for 164 yards and two scores. The Pirates thrashed the UCF defense for a total of 605 yards and the Knights just did not have an answer.
“[This season] is a nightmare that every day I wish I would wake up from,” senior H-back Cedric Thompson said. “It’s not fun, it’s not enjoyable, but we can’t give up and I know it is my last year and I could never play football again.”
UCF will attempt to end the season on a high note when they take on rival USF on Thanksgiving in the war on I-4. USF is in contention for an AAC Championship this year while UCF’s hopes for that kind of success clearly rest on next season.
Photo Credit: Aileen Perilla
