LOUISVILLE - The UCF offense needed to adjust on the fly, and that’s what it did. The Knights lost star running back Isaiah Bowser after his second carry. UCF had its moments, but did not capitalize on a great start.
First Quarter Notes
The Knights roared out to a 7-0 lead after Dillon Gabriel threw a beautiful over-the-top rainbow pass to Ryan O’Keefe for a 41-yard touchdown pass. After that point, that’s when the bad news with Bowser transpired and UCF’s offense struggled to adapt, quite frankly.
Second Quarter Notes
The Knights needed some heroics from Jaylon Robinson to secure their second touchdown. It was a fourth down play that saw something rare. Gabriel threw a poorly thrown pass to his best friend Robinson. It was high and beyond Robinson, but he made a phenomenal catch for a 15-yard score.
After that point in the second quarter, UCF’s offense was simply bad. Discombobulated even.
UCF’s offense was not able to consistently adapt to Bowser being out of the game perhaps? Louisville’s defense tackled pretty well, but UCF shredded Louisville early in the contest. What’s worse, Louisville’s star cornerback, Kei’Trel Clark, missed a good deal of the first half with injury.
It’s simply shocking that after a great start with Clark in the game that UCF started faltering with him out of the game. That’s college football, one of the most unpredictable sports on the planet. Here are the Knights' first half statistics:
At halftime, Louisville leads 21-14. The Knights will receive the second half kickoff.
More must-reads: