UCF led for 58 minutes Saturday night against Temple. It would be in the final 40 seconds, on a four play, 70-yard drive, that an organized Owls offense sealed the Knights’ fate.
In the first half, UCF began to show its dominance and a win seemed to be in reach as effortlessly as the team won against South Carolina State or Florida International. Frost and team built a 25-7 lead after an early touchdown – 1 minute and 11 seconds into the first quarter – and successful two-point conversion to give UCF an 8-0 lead and 63-yard rushing touchdown from McKenzie Milton, most notably.
The second half left UCF out-played at 101 yards to 219 for Temple. The offense would struggle to respond to Temple’s 19 unanswered points.
“I’m sick to my stomach,” Frost said Saturday night. “We let one get away – really it’s two of them we let go away – and those things can’t happen. We all have got to do a better job finishing.”
Frost and Milton spoke on the practice earlier in the week and how the team highlighted finishing and following through when playing the game.
In what seemed like an almost-certain victory for the Knights with possession in their own backfield, and enough plays at hand to run down the clock, the odds turned against them when the rushing game shunted with less than a minute to go.
“It’s football – if you don’t convert on third down you’re not going to win games,” Milton said post-game. “If you catch yourself backed up to 3rd and 12 with a dumb penalty, it’s tough to convert.”
The ball would go back to Temple at the far 30-yard line and yet again it seemed that if the UCF defense could keep the receptions inside boundaries then time will expire for the Owls, who had no timeouts.
Instead, Owls QB Phillip Walker beat UCF at its own game and moved the ball 70 yards in four passes. The defense was unable to organize. On their final play at the 8-yard line, another pass from Walker to Keith Kirkwood sailed just over the hands of a close defender for a touchdown pass with only one second to go in the game to send the small Temple crowd wild.
The Knights move to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the American Athletic Conference. In one week, UCF will play at UCONN for another conference matchup at 12 p.m.
Photo Credit: Aileen Perilla
