BOCA RATON, Fla. — All losses sting, but some of them linger like a song that you can’t seem to get out of your head.
Such is the case for the UCF football program and its fan base, which must now spend the next eight months reflecting on one of the program’s worst losses in more than four years. UCF struggled throughout a 49-23 beatdown by No. 16 BYU in the Boca Raton Bowl Tuesday night.
Not since a 37-point drubbing by then-No. 5 Michigan on Sept. 10, 2016, have the Knights suffered such a one-sided loss.
“This one should stay with us all offseason up until kickoff of next season,” UCF coach Josh Heupel said following the loss, which gave the Knights a 6-4 record to close the pandemic-altered season. “We’ve got to be better.”
It was Heupel’s eighth loss since he took over the program in 2018 and his first double-digit loss. The Knights had not dropped a game by double digits since an 18-point loss to Arkansas State in the 2016 Cure Bowl under then-coach Scott Frost.
“I said that to the team, this one needs to stay with us. This is the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve gotten beat like this,” Heupel said.
Added receiver Jaylon Robinson, “This one hurts. It hurts all of us, especially the seniors. You must take it in and learn from it. I think we must move on and work toward next year.”
UCF couldn’t shake off the rust from a four-week layoff and the young lineup couldn’t offset the absence of numerous defensive starters as BYU jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. The Knights’ usual prolific offense sputtered, failing to score during its first four offensive possessions.
The team finally jumped on the scoreboard following a 15-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 5-yard touchdown run by senior running back Greg McCrae. It was the longest drive of the season, taking nearly five minutes off the clock.
But any momentum gained by the Knights quickly disappeared as BYU quarterback Zach Wilson masterfully guided the Cougars on back-to-back touchdown drives before the end of the first half. Wilson finished with a school record five total touchdowns.
BYU scored two more times after halftime, leaving little chance for a second-half comeback.
UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel tossed two touchdown passes, but the sophomore faced constant pressure as he completed a season low 46% of his passes during the loss.
Now, UCF faces an offseason of uncertainty. It follows nine months of challenges as the team navigated the coronavirus pandemic, with the Knights avoiding having any games called off due to COVID-19 issues.
“This has been the unique year, dating back to the end of spring ball when we dispersed for spring break,” Heupel said. “There is nothing easy and there was nothing normal. I told the guys in the locker room, there were a lot of positive things that we did to stay together and become closer and handling all the different kinds of adversity during the season.
“This is another set of it, another form of it. We’ll be better from it and through it.”
Part of the challenge UCF faces during the offseason is fixing a defense that allowed a staggering 491 yards per game in 2020. The team gave up at least 600 yards three times, including during back-to-back performances against USF and BYU.
UCF took the field against BYU down several starters, including safeties Richie Grant and Aaron Robinson, who both chose to opt out of the bowl game. The defense also was without cornerback Derek Gainous and defensive linemen Stephon Zayas and Landon Woodson.
Before the start of the season, 10 players chose to opt out due to coronavirus concerns, including a pair of defensive starters in Kalia Davis and Mason Cholewa. Davis intends to return to the team in 2021, while Cholewa entered the transfer portal.
Midway through the season, the Knights lost four more starters on defense after defensive linemen Kenny Turnier and Randy Charlton along with linebacker Eric Mitchell and Antwan Collier were dismissed from the team following an incident during a traffic stop.
Twelve players earned their first career starts on defense during the 2020 season, led by defensive linemen Josh Celiscar, Tre’Mon Morris Brash, Cam Goode and Woodson along with linebackers Tatum Bethune and Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste and defensive backs Justin Hodges, Davonte Brown, Jermaine McMillian, Corey Thornton, Divaad Wilson and Jon Powell.
Sixteen of the 21 signees from UCF’s 2020 recruiting class saw action at one point this season.
“There’s a lot of things that guys did well throughout this season,” Heupel said. “The expectation and standard here are to go out and win every time we go out and line up on Saturday. “The expectations for us are to win every time we go out on the football field. That’s a belief inside of our program.
“We’re going to evaluate everything; we do every year. You’re trying to incrementally get better in every sense of the way and that comes in all fashions.”
