Three Key Takeaways From UCF's Loss To Cincinnati

The Bearcats ended up having the ball almost 20 minutes less than the Knights did on Saturday afternoon, which is due to two main factors.

First, the three-and-outs. UCF's defense forced four of them out of nine total Cincinnati drives that did not end with a half.

The other has to do with big plays, which can also result in shortened drives. The Bearcats have ridden them to victories now in three Big 12 games, with today's examples being a 40-yard touchdown catch to get on the board and a 67-yard reception that set up a field goal.

One thing big plays can also do is inflate certain stats. Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby finished the game with 191 passing yards, already his second-lowest total of the season, but remove those big throws from the equation, and he went 10 for 19 through the air for 84 passing yards. Expanding this out to the entire team, removing those two big plays would shrink the Bearcats' total yards to 199, which would average out to 4.3 yards per play, coming just behind UCF's 4.6 average yards per play.

The Knights' defense also capped the Cincinnati rushing attack, not allowing any one runner to get more than 50 total yards, and the entire group ended up averaging 4.3 yards per rush, less than UCF's 4.7 average yards per rush.

So, even though the Bearcats once again were able to break through at a few key moments to get an edge, the Knights' defense held up more often than it did not, giving the offense ample opportunity to close the gap throughout the game. It just did not happen.

2. Welcome Back, Cam Fancher

For the first time since the season opener, senior Cam Fancher started a game for UCF under center, and this time he played a full 60 minutes. He completed 28 of 49 passes for 222 yards, and while he did complete a few deep passes, they were not the type that all but guaranteed touchdowns. Most others were short dumps, which did help UCF get 26 first downs, which included going 7-18 on third downs and 3-6 on fourth down conversions.

Where Fancher really made a difference, though, was with his legs. The Florida Atlantic transfer was also the team's rushing leader, taking the ball 20 times for 108 yards and a touchdown. It's the most times a quarterback has run with the ball this season.

While it may not show up on the stats sheet, Fancher's legs also helped him avoid some, though not all, sack attempts and extend plays, if at least to throw the ball away.

His performance might have borne more fruit on the scoreboard had for it not been the Knights' laundry problem.

3. Letting The Flags Fly

While the Bearcats ended up giving up more penalty yardage with seven flags for 80 yards, the Knights ended up getting flagged more often, drawing 10 flags, their highest count this season, for 75 yards, just five yards less than the team high from the season opener.

These flags, and even a lack of some on Cincinnati, also came at the perfect times to derail the Knights' drives: a no-call on what looked like pass interference here, a chop block that kicks them out of the red zone there.

So, while the UCF offense still had its struggles moving the ball against Cincinnati, it was not helping itself with these penalties.

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The Knights' next chance for their first Big 12 win comes next weekend as they host West Virginia and fellow "coach returning to an old stomping ground" Rich Rodriguez for Homecoming Week. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. on TNT.