The University of Central Florida Knights lost in overtime for the second time at home this season Sunday night at Bright House Networks Stadium. Unlike the earlier loss to South Florida, an almost-heroic comeback story that wasn't, the loss to the East Carolina University Pirates was a story of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Or rather, giving away victory with an interception.
ECU kicker Ben Hartman kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime to hand the UCF Knights their sixth loss of the season following an interception of a Michael Greco pass.
ECU (5-3, 3-1 C-USA) was a team that opened the season looking dangerous. They unseated two top-25 teams in Virginia Tech (No. 17 at the time) and West Virginia (No. 8 at the time) in consecutive weeks, earning them a ranking as high as No. 15 nationally. A three-week losing skid brought the Pirates back to reality and out of the national rankings.
UCF (2-6, 1-3 C-USA) was a team that opened the season looking unorganized. They struggled offensively in a 17-0 season-opener win against South Carolina State and, following an emotional overtime loss to South Florida the next week, were outscored 92-20 in their next two games.
Head Coach George O'Leary knew his team has struggled. "Offense has to get something done to help [the defense] out and we didn't get that accomplished," he said after the game.
The offensive malaise that plagued the Knights throughout the season carried over to the rest of the team Sunday night, starting with the special teams.
The opening kick went out of bonds on the near sideline setting ECU up at their 40-yard line.
ECU quarterback Pat Pinkney handed the ball to running back Norman Whitley three times on their first possession but UCF’s defense swarmed to the ball each time and forced the three-and-out.
UCF seemed to be off to a better start offensively on their first possession as freshman running back Brynn Harvey ripped off an 11-yard run on the first play for UCF. Then, fourth-yearh junior quarterback Greco took off for 12 yards on the next, a broken pass play.
Two plays, two first downs.
The unusually efficient offense then stalled as Greco, scrambling backwards, was sacked for a 17-yard loss. Greco rushed on the next play and got back some of the yards lost, but the Knights still had to settle for a 49-yard field goal off the foot of fifth-year senior kicker Daren Daly.
The Pirates brought the kick-off down to the UCF 10-yard-line but the run was called back due to an illegal block penalty and they had to start from their own 17. On third and three, junior linebacker Chance Henderson came crashing through the line and sacked Pinkney for another ECU three-and-out.
For the rest of the first quarter, punting was in fasion. Both teams' offenses kept coming up short. It wasn’t until the literal last minute of the first quarter that ECU managed a first down from a 19-yard Whitley run.
After converting a 2nd-and-1 at the UCF 31, ECU at least managed to call in their placekicker. Hartman's 48-yard attempt went wide left and UCF took possession.
Seven plays later, the Knights again stalled, this time at ECU's 34. Daly came on to attempt a 52-yard field goal but he too missed wide left.
A UCF 54-yard field goal attempt fell about 10 yards short and 5 yards wide.
The game’s first touchdown came with just 1:45 left in the first half. After pointing out ECU corner Emanuel Davis creeping up for a blitz, third-year sophomore wide receiver Jamar Newsome caught a Greco ball thrown quickly over Davis' head and scampered 54 yards for six points. Daly's kick after the touchdown made it 10-0 in UCF's favor.
ECU attempted a 46-yard field goal with 26 seconds left on the clock but missed wide left again. UCF took over at the 29 and Greco took a knee to end the second half.
ECU’s Whitley had little trouble running through a suddenly-porous Knights defense on the Pirates' first second-half possession. Whitley had runs for 11, 16, and 17 yards. ECU quickly zipped downfield to UCF’s 10-yard-line. The Knights' defense stiffened with the goal line at their backs and forced ECU to kick again. Hartman got his team three points from 27 yards out and cut the Knights' lead to 7.
The Pirates caught a lucky break on the ensuing kickoff. Hartman rifled a kick low and hard at fourth-year junior linebacker Alex Thompson. The ball bounced off Thompson's body back towards ECU and linebacker Dustin Lineback recovered the ball on the ECU 42. No penalty flags were thrown because the ball had travelled 10 yards and then touched a receiving team player before being recovered.
UCF caught a lucky break of their own six plays later. ECU running back Brandon Simmons bobbled the handoff on a run play and UCF's fifth-year senior free safety Jason Venson recovered the ball, his second fumble recovery on the season.
For the rest of the quarter the teams traded punts with neither side showing much offensive threat.
It all started to go wrong for UCF in the fourth quarter with 6:49 left in the game, as O'Leary himself noted.
"The execution in the fourth quarter hurt us, and the ball security. That was the difference in the game," he said.
Taking over on their own 44-yardline, the Knights were in control. At least, in theory. In reality, Harvey rushed for a total of -1 yard on two attempts. Rather than run again on 3rd-and-11 to milk more clock, O'Leary called for a pass. The pass was incomplete and the clock was stopped. After a botched punt attempt, sophomore punter Blake Clingan was forced to scramble. He only got three yards before being tackled.
ECU took over on the UCF 46. After quickly snapping up 10 yards and a new set of downs, ECU struggled. UCF's defense forced three straight incomplete Pinkney passes but on 4th-and-10 the usually vaunted secondary gave up a 13-yard pass to Davon Drew.
The collapse continued as, facing a 3rd-and-9 on UCF's 22, the Knights allowed another Drew reception, this one for 18 yards. On the next play, junior defensive tackle Torrell Troup was flagged as offsides.
With first-and-goal at the 2-yardline, ECU's Whitley had no trouble moving through the running lanes for two yards and six points. Hartman's extra point tied the game at 10-10 with 1:46 left in the game.
Following a failed offensive drive from each team, UCF received another punt. Greco, after rushing 13 yards, fumbled the ball on a hit by Davis, who also recovered.
ECU's Shaun Shaffner started the next drive, and his first pass was deflected. It was then scooped up by fifth-year-senior cornerback Johnell Neal. UCF took a knee to force overtime.
ECU won the cointoss to start overtime and elected to defend first.
Michael Greco, the experienced veteran, the man who led UCF's last-quarter come-from-behind surge against South Florida, the man who now had 40,202 pairs of eyes on him and the outcome of the game in his hands settled in under center.
He took the snap, dropped back, made a bad read, and promptly threw an interception, effectively killing his team's chances at a win.
"It was a go route," O'Leary said of the pass. "The guy sat there and Kamar [Aiken] was right, and Mike [Greco] was wrong. Kamar just ran by the guy and it would have been a touchdown. A hitch was called and a conversion off of that based on the coverage."
ECU's field goal team came on following three short-yardage run plays and Hartman kicked the final field goal of the evening, giving his team a 13-10 victory.
O'Leary summed up his team's effort and spoke of the upcoming schedule.
"Right now we just didn't execute as well as you would like to see them execute. You just have to continue on. We have four games left and each one is important because they are [Conference USA] Eastern Division foes," he said.
UCF next plays Saturday, Nov. 8 at 3:30 p.m. at Bright House Networks Stadium. They host the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (3-6, 1-4 C-USA).
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