Can you even believe what went down in Houston tonight? UCF, with a commanding 17-point lead late in the third quarter against No. 20 Houston, completely crumbled, giving up 27 unanswered points to extend their brutal road losing streak to an agonizing 11 straight games. The Knights, who led 17-0 with six minutes left in the third, ended up losing 27-17 to the Cougars. Talk about a gut punch.
How Did a Dominant Lead Just Disappear?
It felt like everything was finally clicking for UCF, especially after Keyone Jenkins scrambled for a 5-yard touchdown run that silenced the sparse TDECU Stadium crowd. They were up 17-0, a three-score lead against a ranked opponent. This team, mired in a 10-game road losing streak, looked like they were finally going to break the curse. And get this: in their previous four contests, UCF had only given up a combined 15 second-half points. Tonight, they coughed up 27 *unanswered* in the second half. It’s wild. Coach Scott Frost put it bluntly, saying, “Everything was going our way for three quarters. … 17-0 in the third quarter, you feel great. You have a chance to get a stop there and really be in control of the game, and we didn’t.” He’s not wrong. They had control, and then, poof, it was gone.
Conner Weigman’s Rally That Broke UCF’s Spirit
Houston’s Conner Weigman completely took over when it mattered most. The Cougars went on an absolute tear, scoring 27 unanswered points across their final five possessions. Weigman himself was a monster, racking up three rushing touchdowns. The turning point? Houston’s edge rusher Latreveon McCutchin tipped a pass on third-and-2, snagged the interception, and ran it all the way down to the Knights’ 2-yard line. Weigman punched in his second TD run two plays later, pulling Houston within three. Then, after UCF went three-and-out with their third-string signal-caller, Weigman sealed the deal with a 1-yard keeper for the lead that stuck. UCF just ran out of steam, and even worse, they ran out of reinforcements. You just can’t let a ranked team come back like that.
This isn’t just another loss. This is the 11th straight road loss, a streak that’s getting harder and harder to ignore. Losing a 17-point lead in the third quarter to a ranked team, that’s gonna sting for a while. You gotta wonder how long this road losing streak is going to haunt them.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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