It was a tale of two halves for UCF's defense on Saturday, who shutout the opposing Houston Cougars through the first half of the third quarter.

But, with UCF's offense struggling to muster long drives, the Knights' defense suffered as well, giving up 27 unanswered points in the final 18:38 of game time.

Here is what stood out from Alex Grinch's unit in the defeat.

With UCF's offense sputtering, the Cougars took advantage of plus field position and were able to get back into the ballgame.

Houston's first touchdown drive was just one play for two yards, with starting quarterback Conner Weigman cashing in on the goalline field position for six.

The Knights would accumulate less than 20 yards on the next three offensive drives, as Houston continued to find a rhythm.

UCF had just one sack, split between two players. Against the run and quick pass game, the Knights mustered just two tackles for loss.

This was a huge switch from the TCU game, where the UCF pass rush was able to force Jaden Craig into ill-advised throws.

The secondary did a good job holding up against Weigman and the Cougars' offense, holding them out of the endzone and keeping Houston's quarterback to just 239 yards.

But, Weigman was able to rush for three scores and add 50 yards with his legs, keeping the UCF defense on it's toes.

Houston's pound-the-rock mentality was able to beat down on UCF's defenders, running the ball 44 times for 154 yards.

Getting Lewis Carter healthy will help the team in the run game, but his timetable for return is still unknown.

As UCF looks to rebound, the schedule doesn't get any easier.

Next week, the Knights travel to Stillwater, OK, where the No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowboys have averaged over 46 points per game over their past three outings.

Following that game, UCF returns home to take on No. 8 BYU, who is currently the highest-ranked team in the Big 12.

Winning one of these two games would be big for the Knights' resumé and morale heading into the back portion of their schedule, while keeping the team in the hunt for Conference Championship aspirations.

One big addition is linebacker Cole Kozlowksi, who was officially granted his fifth year of eligibility on Sunday, and will now be able to finish out the remainder of UCF's season.

Kozlowski, Carter, and Tackett Curtis is a deep linebacking core.