UCF clobbers Arizona in 'Space Game,' Wildcats drop fifth straight game

ORLANDO — The Arizona Wildcats spent their Saturday afternoon minutes away from "The Most Magical Place on Earth."

However, nothing in Arizona's 56-12 loss to the UCF Knights on Saturday at FBC Mortgage Stadium for the "Space Game" was "magical" for the Wildcats.

More like disastrous and nightmarish — and gloomy akin to the rainy weather that rolled in during the first quarter. 

The Wildcats (3-6) dropped their fifth straight game, which is now the longest skid for the program since it lost 20 straight games between the 2019-21 seasons. UCF's triumph snaps a four-game losing streak. UCF (4-5) has also won its space-themed game eight straight times since starting it in 2017, outscoring its opponents 405-159 during that stretch. 

The Knights' 56 points on Saturday marked the most points allowed by Arizona since it lost 70-7 to Arizona State in 2020.

"A really hard day out there on the football field. ... They got after us in all three phases," said first-year Arizona head coach Brent Brennan. "It's totally unacceptable and we need to coach better and go through everything and get back to finding how we can execute in all three phases and play some clean football, because we did not do that tonight in any way.

"I think we have great coaches, I think we have great kids on this team and I think they'll be diligent in the process of getting right."

Arizona's injury-riddled defense used its dime package with six defensive backs, including strong safety Dalton Johnson in a hybrid linebacker role alongside sophomore linebacker Taye Brown, and three down linemen. With redshirt freshman Dylan Rizk at quarterback, UCF's fourth starting quarterback this season, the Knights marched down the field on the opening drive, but kicker Grant Reddick missed a 48-yard field goal, his first miss of the season.

After the empty drive to start, UCF's offense blasted off like a rocket at Cape Canaveral, a week after the Knights changed play-calling duties from head coach Gus Malzahn to offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr.

The Knights scored seven consecutive touchdowns and had 602 yards of total offense. It's the most yards Arizona's defense has allowed since it gave up 621 to USC in 2022. Eight of UCF's 10 drives resulted in touchdowns.

"Any time that kind of number shows up in the scoreboard in total yards, that's a negative for your football team," Brennan said. "That's the harsh reality that we have to deal with. Obviously they were balanced and the quarterback played really well. His legs were a factor and he hit some big throws. We have a lot to fix."

The Wildcats didn't score their first points of the game until Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, who completed 24 of 33 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns, launched a 23-yard pass in the corner of the end zone to tight end Sam Olson, who pirouetted for the catch, with 46 seconds left in the first half. Arizona finished with 261 yards and 5 net rushing yards, the fewest rushing yards for the Wildcats since it had minus-13 yards against UCLA in 2006.

"I gotta give us some more opportunities to run the ball," Fifita said. "We made an emphasis to throw perimeter screens and let our receivers work in space. I think I could've given our running backs more opportunities inside. For the most part, it was nothing about scheme; they just outplayed us today." 

UCF star running back RJ Harvey, the Big 12's leading rusher and one of the top rushers in college football, led the Knights with 22 carries for 184 yards and three touchdowns. Harvey became the second-leading rusher in UCF history. 

Harvey scored his first touchdown subsequent to Arizona running back's Quali Conley fumble on Arizona's second drive for "a big momentum," said Brennan. Conley also fumbled in the first quarter in Arizona's loss to West Virginia last week in Tucson.

Conley, a transfer from San Jose State, "has played for us for two years and last week was his first fumble, so I trust Quali," Brennan said. 

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"He's been a good player for us all season," said Brennan. "He knows he needs to hold on to the darn ball."

Despite Conley's fumble, three first-half punts and a missed PAT, Olson's touchdown positioned the Wildcats to get back in the game. Trailing 28-6, Arizona received the ball to begin the second half, but Rizk threw a Hail Mary pass to tight end Randy Pittman Jr. at the buzzer to take a 35-6 lead.

"We had it executed, but that's one of those where you gotta get the ball to the ground," said Johnson. "That shouldn't have been caught. We practice that each week. We practice that, but I guess we gotta practice it more. Kudos to them, they had a good plan for it. We gotta execute. A couple of us were out of assignment, including myself. I gotta be better than that."

Added Johnson: "It definitely put points on the board that we didn't want." 

Following a 45-yard reception by redshirt sophomore Chris Hunter, Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan bobbled and caught a 2-yard touchdown in the third quarter for the Wildcats' final points on Saturday.

"That's just T-Mac for you," Fifita said. "He makes some spectacular plays regardless of what the game looks like, what the score looks like. He's still the best player on the field."

Hunter led the UA with seven catches and a career-high 102 yards. McMillan was second with eight catches for 84 yards. 

"Those three kids were Warriors," Brennan said of Fifita, McMillan and Hunter. "Noah stands in there and battles every game. Every game, he gives us a chance. I have so much respect for all three of those guys. It's awesome to see Chris Hunter start to elevate. That's something that we've been talking about and waiting for. We're encouraged by that, and I think T-Mac is just a fantastic player." 

The setback now to UCF now puts the Wildcats one game away from officially missing a bowl game. Arizona enters a bye week before facing Houston in Tucson, then a road game — potentially the last one away from Arizona Stadium this season — at TCU and then the final regular-season game against Arizona State for the Territorial Cup.

Brennan said, "Hopefully the bye will be a good thing for our football team to evaluate every aspect of what we're doing."

"Our players will get a chance to go to work and we can start to hopefully fix it," he added. "That's where we're going to start. We need to play better. It's that simple. ... Today is unacceptable and none of us expected to be where we're at right now. The biggest thing is, we gotta move forward and find the best way to move forward together. That's the only way we're going to get where we want to go."

Extra points

• Arizona is averaging 15.3 points in road games this season. Excluding the Alamo Bowl, the Wildcats averaged 37.2 points on the road last season.

• The Wildcats had 10 penalties for 100 yards on Saturday.  

• Arizona defensive tackle Isaiah Johnson returned to the rotation after missing the last two games with a leg injury. Johnson suffered a leg injury during pregame warmups leading up to the Colorado game two weeks ago. Nose tackle Chubba Ma'ae missed his sixth straight game with a leg injury. 

• UA star linebacker Jacob Manu, one of three UA defensive starters with a season-ending leg injury, underwent surgery this week for the injury. 

Photos: Arizona Wildcats fall 56-12 to UCF Knights, Big 12 college football