OSU loses late to UCF

ORLANDO, Florida. – A second-half rally lifted the UCF football team to a 17-14 win over Oklahoma State at the Acrisure Bounce House Saturday.

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The Cowboys (1-10 overall; 0-8 Big 12) led for most of the game, but the Knights (5-6 overall; 2-6 Big 12) tied the game with 9:12 remaining and took their first lead with 54 seconds left.

Oklahoma State found success playing a possession-based style in the first half. OSU had the ball for 19:36, in comparison to UCF’s 10:24. The Pokes’ two first-half touchdown drives spanned 13 plays and 12 plays, respectively. In the first half, Cowboys converted four of eight third-down attempts and ran 40 plays to UCF’s 23.

Possession of the ball flipped in the second half, with UCF keeping possession for 20:56, in comparison to Oklahoma State’s 8:56. The Knights outgained the Cowboys, 265-27 after halftime and allowed only two OSU first downs.

The game broke several longstanding trends for the Cowboys, including the following:

• Entering Saturday’s contest, Oklahoma State had won 95 of its previous 97 games when holding its opponent to fewer than 20 points, dating back to Sept. 13, 2003.
• Entering Saturday’s contest, Oklahoma State was 83-13 when winning the turnover battle, dating back to 2008.
• Entering Saturday’s contest, Oklahoma State was 52-9 in its previous 61 games when leading at halftime, dating back to Sept. 17, 2016.
• Entering Saturday’s contest, Oklahoma State led the nation with 35 wins in one-possession games since 2015.

The Cowboy defense turned in one of its best overall performances of the season. Thanks to interceptions from cornerbacks Cam Smith and LaDainian Fields, OSU won the turnover battle, 2-1. UCF entered the game averaging 172.9 rushing yards per game, but the Cowboy defense limited the Knights to 125. Safety Parker Robertson set a career high with three tackles for loss. He also had a team-best eight tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a pass.

Ultimately, however, the UCF defense completely shut down the Oklahoma State offense in the second half to win the game.

The Cowboys return to action when they host Iowa State at 11 a.m. Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium. Tickets are available at okstate.com/tickets or by calling 877-ALL-4-OSU.

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