UCF proves a worthy opponent, as Sooners survive 31-29 scare

NORMAN — After last year’s disappointing 6-7 record — and resisting the urge to dream that the football program would experience an abrupt about-face, ala Bob Stoops 2000 — the Oklahoma Sooners faithful circled the OU-UCF game as possibly this season’s most intriguing matchup.

After all, it was at UCF that now-Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel had starred for the Knights with 8,037 yards and 68 touchdowns in only 26 games. It was also at the Orlando, Fla., school that Jeff Lebby, now OU’s offensive coordinator, was diagramming plays that resulted in UCF amassing a 12-1 record in 2018, as one of only a four undefeated teams — the others being Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame — heading into the bowl season.

But after this year’s OU-Texas thriller, in which Gabriel engineered a last-minute 75-yard drive to shock the then-No. 3 Longhorns to keep the Sooners unbeaten, the storyline morphed into shades of 2000’s National Championship season. With the Sooners apparently hitting on all cylinders and the remainder of the season merely a parade to yet another Big XII Conference championship game and a College Football Playoff berth, many shifted their thinking, believing that Saturday’s game with the Knights would be just an interesting footnote to a remarkable season.

Somebody forgot to tell the Knights, who are winless in four Big 12 Conference tries in their inaugural league season.

For had UCF known the script, the Knights would not have kept Sooner Nation on the edge of its collective seats until the final minute of the game in a 31-29 nail-biter that come close to being an overtime contest.

To be sure, OU was not the same team from two weeks earlier when the Sooners often dominated the Longhorns before relying on Gabriel’s game-winning magic.

But if the Sooners were suffering from a Longhorn hangover, Texas suffered from the same affliction Saturday in its game against lowly Houston, an unexpectedly tight game that wasn’t decided until the waning moments as the Cougars were only yards away from sending their game into overtime in a 31-24 verdict that was closer than the final numbers indicated.

Gabriel threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, and directed OU to consecutive fourth-quarter touchdown drives to go from trailing 23-17 to leading 31-23 with just over three minutes left in regulation.

And when it looked as if the Knights would not be up to the challenge, UCF completed consecutive passes of 39 and 19 yards to move to within 12 yards of the end zone. Then on fourth and 10, UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee connected with Javon Baker to cut the Sooner lead to 31-29 with 1:16 to go. But the Knights’ two-point conversion attempt to send the game into overtime was blown up when OU’s Kendel Dolby corralled the UCF runner seven yards behind the line of scrimmage to touch off a Sooner celebration.

UCF’s ensuing onside kick was smothered by Austin Stogner amid a scrum at midfield, then Gabriel knelt down three times to salt away the final 73 seconds of the game.

The win kept the No. 6-ranked Sooners undefeated in seven games and unblemished in four conference outings.

UCF, meanwhile, slipped to 3-4 overall and 0-4 in league play.

The Sooners went three and out in its initial possession, then when OU’s second possession stalled, kicker Zach Schmit’s field goal try from 38 yards out missed its mark. But the Sooners struck paydirt on their third attempt, when Gabriel tossed a 29-yard pass to Nic Anderson for a 7-0 edge at the 7:48 mark of the opening quarter.

Schmit then missed a 43-yard field goal attempt with 53 seconds left in the period to bolster UCF’s hopes.

The Knights then started off the second stanza with a 54-yard run to the 1 yard line. But the Sooners looked as if they would duplicate their dramatic goal-line stand from two weeks earlier versus the Longhorns, when three run attempts actually knocked UCF back a yard. But an unsportsmanlike penalty against OU linebacker Jaren Kanak gave the Knights new life — and a first down — at the 1. A UCF delay of game sent the Knights back to the 6 before Plumlee scampered into the end zone to tie the game at 7 with 11:49 showing.

The teams then saved their fireworks for the final four minutes of the half, which began when the Knights cashed in on a 21-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead.

But less than two minutes later, Gabriel and Anderson teamed up for another score, this time from 42 yards out to give OU a 14-10 advantage.

But 27 seconds later, Plumlee hit Baker on an 86-yard touchdown to regain the upper hand at 17-14. During his run down the sideline in front of the OU bench, however, Baker blew a taunting kiss to the Sooners, which drew an unsportsmanlike flag, a 15-yard setback that was assessed on UCF’s ensuing kickoff.

OU then gobbled up 67 yards in 82 seconds for a 25-yard Schmit field goal on the final play of the half for a 17-17 halftime deadlock.

The Sooners found themselves on the short end of the score just over three minutes into the third quarter when UCF kicked a 48-yard field goal for a 20-17 edge, then added another scoring kick six minutes later for a 23-17 Knight cushion.

But OU, on its first possession of the final frame, took the lead for good at 24-23 when Gabriel found Drake Stoops for an 11-yard touchdown with 9:16 to go.

The Sooners appeared to finish off the Knights when Gavin Sawchuk raced 30 yards to paydirt for a 31-23 count with 3:13 left.

But that’s when UCF covered 75 yards in just over a minute and a half for the game’s final touchdown to put the Knights just two points away from sending the game into overtime.

OU held UCF to 397 total yards and 149 rushing yards. The Knights entered the game ranked fourth nationally in total offense (516.7 yards per game) and third nationally in rushing offense (246.3 yards per game).

The Sooners registered 13 tackles for loss on the day, which is the second-most by the OU defense this season, trailing the 15 recorded versus Tulsa.

OU visits Kansas Oct. 28 for an 11 a.m. kickoff, followed the next weekend at Stillwater for what could be the final Bedlam matchup.