4th-and-goal, double overtime, up eight points against the No. 2 team in the nation. Bear Bachmeier throws a pass that hits his receiver, but its dropped. Knights win, field stormed.
The UCF Knights defeated the No. 2 BYU Cougars 39-31 in double overtime at the Acrisure Bounce House on Saturday. UCF’s win marks the school’s first against an AP Top 5 team in school history.
“I actually had a vision the night before last about us storming the field,” Knights quarterback Keyone Jenkins said. “I’ve seen it happen before; I knew it was going to happen. That was a great environment to be in.”
Game flow
BYU was in control early on, holding UCF to two three-and-outs and scoring the first touchdown of the game on a Kyler Kasper catch. However, the Knights gained momentum on a 30-yard rush to end the quarter.
To start the second quarter, backup running back Landen Chambers ran for the tying touchdown. The Knights then held the Cougars to a three-and-out, giving them the chance to take the lead.
UCF drove the ball to the BYU eight yard line, but stalled out at the goal line. Head coach Scott Frost decided to settle for a field goal attempt by Will Stone, who gave the Knights their first lead of the game.
Bachmeier responded on the next drive with a 28-yard pass, a 32-yard pass, and a touchdown run to go up by four. BYU forced a punt and was driving in UCF territory as the two-minute timeout came. Knights defensive lineman Thomas Collins then tipped Bachmeier’s pass on third down, which was intercepted by Tackett Curtis.
“I went full power for a minute,” Collins said. “I knew Tackett was a factor somewhere.”
UCF drove downfield in the final minute and Chambers scored the go-ahead touchdown on his first career touchdown reception. Going into halftime, the Knights led by three.
“We work on [catching] all the time,” Chambers said. “This week, we [were] working on the fact to catch the ball; I knew it was gonna be there.”
The third quarter saw only two drives, with each team trading touchdowns. Sione Moa rushed for a score for BYU, but an unlikely drive by the Knights was capped off by a Jenkins touchdown rush.
The Cougars had a 12-play drive to start the fourth quarter, capped off by a 47-yard field goal from Matthias Dunn to tie the game at 24.
With nine minutes left, the Knights went on a 12-play drive of their own. On the BYU goal line facing fourth-and-inches, UCF was stuffed.
Overtime came after an odd sequence to end the game, as Knights kicker Will Stone’s 46 yard kick was blocked on third down. UCF recovered the ball with a chance to try another game-winning attempt, but because Stone’s helmet came off during the play, the required 10-second runoff ended the half.
“That’s the weirdest end to a game I have ever seen,” UCF coach Scott Frost said. “I thought it would take 31 to win it.”
The Knights won the toss and elected to defend first. BYU was held to a third-and-13 to start overtime, but an open pass to Legend Glasker was ran in for a touchdown.
On the next play, UCF quarterback Jenkins found Josh Derry on a broken play for a touchdown to respond and send the game to double overtime.
“It was amazing,” Derry said. “I was really, really hoping he saw me. He hit me in the end zone and got me a touchdown.”
UCF’s offense stalled out on the drive and had to settle for a Stone field goal attempt, which he converted. However, BYU defender
Kendal Wall was flagged for roughing the kicker, giving the Knights another chance at a touchdown.
On 2nd-and-goal, Jenkins found Grayson Brousseau for a touchdown catch to put UCF on top. The Knights decided to go for two points and converted on a pass to Tyren Hornes to extend the lead to eight.
Bachmeier found leading-receiver Kyler Kasper for a first down, putting the ball on the UCF eight yard line. With four downs, the Knights defense held Bachmeier to four rushing yards and three incompletions to win the game.
“I’m so happy and so excited for everybody in this program,” Curtis said. “I was fortunate enough to have [a storm fielding] last year in Wisconsin, but it definitely doesn’t top this.”
Next up
UCF will look to build on this momentum when they face Baylor for the annual Space Game on Friday. The Bears are coming off back-to-back losses after starting the season 4-1.
“Tomorrow morning we’re gonna be onto Baylor,” Frost said. “We got a short week, so we got to get in early and get a game plan ready for them.”
Kickoff against Baylor is set for 7:30 on October 30.