The UCF Knights (3-3, 0-3 Big 12) couldn’t completely cool down the Cincinnati Bearcats’ (5-1, 3-0) red-hot offense as the team lost its third straight Big 12 game 20-11 at Nippert Stadium.
This loss marks the Knights' ninth straight loss in October. Their last win came against then-#20 Cincinnati on Oct. 29, 2022, in a 25-21 victory. Saturday’s loss gives the Bearcats bragging rights as the all-time record between these two teams sits at 6-5 in Cincinnati’s favor.
The Bearcats' bright red jerseys reflected their blazing offense, as junior quarterback Brendan Sorsby lit up UCF’s secondary with back-breaking long passes. It took Sorsby four plays and 1:26 on his second drive to crack the game open with his first touchdown pass. Sorsby, in the face of pressure from Knights junior linebacker Lewis Carter, lobbed a pass to a wide-open senior wide receiver Jeff Caldwell to give Cincinnati a 7-0 lead.
Sorsby and Caldwell’s connection for the Bearcats’ first touchdown broke UCF’s five-game streak of holding opposing teams scoreless in the first quarter.
The Sorsby and Caldwell connection struck once more in the second quarter, as the Bearcats found themselves in familiar territory: the red zone, an area where they were a perfect 21 of 21 in the past five games. Sorsby found Caldwell for a 9-yard touchdown to pad Cincinnati’s lead to 14-0.
Sorsby completed 12 of 21 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns, and added 36 yards on the ground through eight carries.
Senior quarterback Cam Fancher led the charge for the Knights, hoping to respond to UCF’s long-time rival. The team failed to counter the Bearcats on their second drive, as flags nullified a 35-yard pass to junior wide receiver Duane Thomas Jr., and the Bearcats forced a fumble on junior wide receiver DJ Black.
It was a brutal day for the Knights’ offense.
UCF head coach Scott Frost noticed the pattern he saw in the flags the Knights were getting.
“Where they’re happening the most is frustrating to me because they’re happening for the most part in the red zone,” Frost said.
The Knights tallied nine penalties for 60 yards, which pushed the team back and created long third downs. UCF even had a 17-play drive, chewing nine minutes off the clock and Cincinnati’s defense stood tall, forcing them to punt.
Fancher was the Knights' only consistent offense out on the field. He completed 28 of 49 passes for 222 yards, but his rushing game was more impressive. Fancher recorded a season-high 108 yards on 20 carries for one touchdown.
Fancher spoke about his rushing performance and what was working for him.
“My job play in and play out is just, ‘how can I make this play successful?,’” Fancher said. “Whether that’s taking my first read, taking a second, third, fourth, or checking it down, or if nothing’s open, extending plays.”
The Knights' defense did its best to hold Cincinnati below its scoring average of 39.2 points. UCF forced several third-and-outs against the Bearcats, continuously providing the offense with opportunities to score and cut into the deficit. However, the offense couldn’t find any openings to strike.
Drives were filled with penalties: false starts, holding, an ineligible man downfield and an illegal chop block. These self-inflicted mistakes, which the team hoped to minimize, ultimately came back to haunt them.
UCF’s first score came in the second quarter.
Fancher, faced with a short third down, launched a deep pass to senior wide receiver Marcus Burke. Burke was pushed by Bearcats senior cornerback Logan Wilson, who was flagged for pass interference, pushing UCF up 15 yards. A big break for the Knights.
Fancher completed several passes to his receivers, paired with an 8-yard run to put senior kicker Noe Ruelas in position to nail a 45-yard field goal.
It took the Knights nearly until the end of the fourth quarter to score its first touchdown of the game.
Two miracles happened on UCF’s scoring drive. The first miracle occurred when Coach Frost boldly went for it on fourth down. Fancher threw a deep ball down the field, caught by junior tight end Dylan Wade for 30 yards after bouncing off his teammate's helmet.
The next miracle was another pass interference flag on Cincinnati, putting the Knights in the red zone. A scoring opportunity laid in the Knights' lap, which Fancher took full advantage of.
With the ball snapped, Fancher saw a wide-open gap in a designed quarterback run and punched in a 3-yard touchdown for the Knights. UCF converted the two-point conversion with Fancher throwing the ball to senior wide receiver Chris Domercant to cut the deficit to nine.
However, it was too little, too late, as the drive consisted of 19 plays, taking seven minutes off the clock and leaving two minutes left in the game.
The Knights remain winless in the Big 12, winless in October since 2022 and fall behind in the all-time series record against their long-time rival Cincinnati.
UCF returns to the Acrisure Bounce House for its homecoming game against the West Virginia Mountaineers (2-4, 0-3 Big 12) on Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. on TNT and HBO Max.