ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF floundered in the end like they did all season, losing emphatically 44-3 to USF in the season finale to cap an 0-12 season.
“Obviously, disappointed in the results,” iterated Head Coach Danny Barrett after the game. “Especially for tonight, for the seniors,” he continued, “disappointed we couldn’t send those guys out with one final win to go with the record they’ve had here.”
Bulls’ quarterback Quinton Flowers carved up the UCF defense to the tune of 176 passing yards, three touchdowns, 96 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns.
As a whole the defense surrendered 455 total yards in what has become the expected production from the winless unit. On the ground alone the Bulls were able to amass 281 of those yards. They were, once again, completely outclassed.
The Knights actually drew first blood once again before letting the game run away with a full head of steam. Matthew Wright drilled a 28 yard field goal and the unit looked primed to challenge USF for sixty minutes.
USF was up 24-3 at the half, continuing on to notch 44 unanswered points. At no point was the offense able to string together successful long drives, converting 2 of 12 third down opportunities; whereas USF converted 11 of 16.
“That’s what we talked about all week. Being able to stop them on third down and being able to stay on the field during third down and we weren’t able to do that,” Barrett analyzed.
Justin Holman was largely ineffective as a passer, finishing the game with 116 passing yards and only 10 completions on 26 attempts with 2 interceptions. Even still Barrett refused to put the entirety of the blame on his quarterback.
“It was a combination of errors from an offensive standpoint when you look at it from an execution standpoint,” he said.
His leading receiver, Tre’Quan Smith, had an impressive day. The freshman receiver posted 102 receiving yards and hauled in seven catches – almost the entirety of Holman’s body of work for the day.
“He started off the game with a great catch, fourth down made a great catch,” said Barrett. “I feel as though he is probably be the leading candidate for rookie of the year in this conference, hopefully he’s able to win it because he has shown he’s able to play football at this level.”
It is a tragic way for the seniors who have been first hand contributors to some of the most iconic moments in program history to end their tenure at UCF. Nobody could have ever predicted their reign would plummet so drastically.
“It was very difficult. Obviously a lot of young guys playing, guys that never played before. That’s going to affect you, no matter who you are or where you’re at, that’s going to affect you. Obviously when bad things happen, we can’t stop them. The main thing is the inexperience. That’s what got us. And not seizing opportunities, missed opportunities,” Thomas Niles said. “A lot of missed opportunities.”
From here the Knights will do everything possible to erase the 2015 nightmare. On the horizon is the promise of a new head coach, directional change and a fresh chance to move forward when spring ball arrives.
Photo Credit: Matt McGuffee
