UCF’s postseason hopes end with loss at West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, W.V. — Somewhere deep in West Virginia’s hollers under a cold and dismal gray sky, UCF’s season ended.

Sure, the Knights have one game remaining against Utah on Friday, but any hope of salvaging something positive from the unbelievably frustrating season quietly ended in Saturday’s 31-21 loss to West Virginia.

UCF’s slim hopes of making a postseason bowl were squashed after the Mountaineers rushed for 200 yards. This means the Knights are guaranteed to finish with a losing record for the second consecutive year and snap a streak of eight straight bowl appearances.

“You look at the game, and it came down to third down. We had trouble getting off the field,” coach Gus Malzahn said. “… Bottom line is we didn’t do what it took to win and give those guys credit.”

Running back RJ Harvey, the only bright spot in an otherwise horrendous season, finished with a team-high 130 yards and two touchdowns. His 2-yard touchdown run out of a wildcat formation with 8:37 remaining in the second quarter got the Knights their first points.

Quarterback Dylan Rizk struggled early in his third start of the season, missing his first two throws and later fumbling a handoff between to running back Myles Montgomery that ended with West Virginia’s Dontez Fagan recovering and ending a scoring opportunity.

The Mountaineers (6-5, 5-3 Big 12) showcased why they are one of the top rushing teams in the Big 12, gashing the Knights for more than 7 yards per carry. CJ Donaldson Jr.’s 1-yard touchdown run started the scoring for WVU.

West Virginia added a second score when sophomore running back Jahiem White plowed in for a 3-yard touchdown that pushed the lead to 14-0 with 1:47 to go in the first quarter.

“The defense played like crap,” said sophomore linebacker Xe’Ree Alexander. “It was hard for us to get a third-down stop. We’ve all got to do better and improve.”

The Mountaineers converted on 44% (8 of 18) of their third-down opportunities and were 4 for 4 on fourth downs.

Harvey’s touchdown sliced the lead in half with 8:37 left in the second quarter. It was his 20th rushing touchdown of the season and the 22nd overall.

But WVU put together a 12-play drive, capped by a Garrett Greene pass to receiver Rodney Gallagher III for an over-the-shoulder grab on a 12-yard touchdown catch with 15 seconds left in the half.

It was the Knights’ fourth straight game in which they surrendered points in the final minute of the first half.

“It has happened too many times,” Malzahn said of the trend.

West Virginia took the opening kick in the second half and drove 55 yards before Donaldson burst through the line for his second touchdown to push the advantage to 28-7 with 12:10 left in the third quarter.

Donaldson finished with 96 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, White added 54 rushing yards and Greene 49.

UCF (4-7, 2-6 Big 12) cut the lead to 28-14 midway through the third quarter when Rizk double-pumped and found a wide-open Kobe Hudson for a 45-yard touchdown.

Rizk finished 11 of 21 for 172 yards with a touchdown.

However, the Mountaineers put the game away when kicker Michael Haynes II connected on a 35-yard field goal at the start of the fourth quarter.

UCF made one final push, driving 82 yards in less than two minutes as Harvey added his second touchdown — a 9-yard score with 5:20 left. But that’s as close as it would get.

The Knights finished with the second-lowest offensive output of the season (348 yards) and converted just 33% (3 of 9) of their third-down opportunities.

Malzahn said the focus heading into Friday’s game against Utah would be to finish strong for the seniors.

“We’ve got one game left and we got to send the seniors out,” he said. “That’s what we discussed in the locker room [after the loss].”

Malzahn, 59, quickly shot down several online reports earlier this week that he planned to retire at the end of the season.

“I don’t know where that came from; I’m not retiring,” Malzahn said.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” he added when asked about back-to-back losing seasons. “I’m really disappointed. This has been a tough season; everybody knows we had high expectations. We lost some close games that I felt like we should have won. It’s been tough.”

Matt Murschel can be reached at moc.lenitnesodnalro@lehcsrumm