ORLANDO, Fla.- The offense sputters and the Knights charge on.
UCF beat Oklahoma State 17-14 on Saturday afternoon at the Acrisure Bounce House in Orlando. The loss extended the Cowboys Big 12 losing streak to 17 games.
Oklahoma State did just enough to keep the fans invested in the game until its final possession. It led 14-0 at halftime and 14-7 going into the fourth quarter.
“I told the team that the half that I appreciated their enthusiasm, but it wasn’t the time to act like they had one the game,” interim coach Doug Meacham said. “It was time to lock it back down when we walked out of the tunnel and try to go win the second half.”
While the Cowboys defense played well for the entirety of the game, the offense was again inconsistent. Of the 228 total yards gained, only 27 came in the second half.
“Having that few yards in the second half will wear your defense down,” Meacham said. “It’ll get them to a point where they can no longer fight because they’re worn out. I think that’s what happened.”
Second half struggles have been a theme for the Cowboy offense. UCF seemingly did not drastically alter its defensive scheme coming out of halftime.
“They may have come out and played a little bit more in man coverage,” Meacham said. “We were trying to take more shots on first down. It just felt like we got a little bit one dimensional.”
Oklahoma State scored on both the first and last drives of the first half. Quarterback Zane Flores finished the first half 11-19 with both a passing and rushing score.
“We all just executed in the first half with better attention to detail,” tight end Grayson Brousseau said. “We just for whatever reason didn’t come out as well in the second half.”
Flores only completed two of his nine passes in the second half for 19 yards. He also threw an interception on the final drive of the game.
“Zane just missed a few throws when we had guys open,” Meacham said. “There were other times when we were just covered up.”
The team is down to one chance to get its first conference win since 2023.
“I still get a lot of comments about how the boys are playing hard, and they are,” Mecham said. “I just hate it for the kids because they’ve earned the right to get a win, it just hasn’t happened.”
