During the past four games, the fifth-year senior has improved with each start, and his performance has escalated as his knee grows stronger.

In those four starts, Plumlee has completed 55 of 107 passes (51%) for 986 yards with 8 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 168 yards on 34 carries (4.94 average) with 3 touchdowns and a

In leading UCF to its 45-3 win over then-No. 15 Oklahoma State last weekend, he set season-highs in passing yards (299) and rushing attempts (14) and his passer rating (255.6) was the second-highest of his career.

“You can see he’s getting healthier and it changes the dynamics — not just our offense but our whole team,” said coach Gus Malzahn.

Plumlee’s touch on deep passes (20-plus yards) also has improved.

He completed 6 of 7 for 250 yards and a touchdown against the Cowboys.

“He threw the best deep balls that he’s had since we’ve been here in practice and it carried over in the game,” said Malzahn.

UCF tailback RJ Harvey takes his game to next level

Said offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw, a former quarterback: “When you’re throwing as a quarterback, you throw with your lower body more than you do with your upper body. You don’t just throw with one arm. You throw with your hips, shoulders and legs.

“Your knees are torqued constantly, so you can see the progression as he continues to heal and get better and better and better.”

Plumlee and the Knights’ next challenge is this Saturday at Texas Tech (5-5, 4-3 Big 12), with the Red Raiders coming off a 16-13 win against then-No. 19 Kansas.

Who plays center this week?

Injuries continue to force the coaching staff to make weekly adjustments to the offensive line.

Bula Schmidt missed the game against the Cowboys with an apparent foot injury, shifting fifth-year senior Lokahi Pauole from guard to center. He’d only taken seven career snaps there.

“That’s the fourth center we’ve had this year,” said Malzahn. “I don’t know if we’ve ever gotten to the third center with the first group, so this is a unique year.”

Added Hinshaw: “He did a good job at center with his IDs and the calls and everything because that goes into playing center. You’ve got to be the quarterback of the offensive line.”

UCF blasted into space with out-of-this-world victory over No. 15 Oklahoma State! | Commentary

Malzahn said redshirt freshman center Caden Kitler, who missed the last five games with an undisclosed injury, is nearly 100% and should be in the mix for the spot this week.

The coaching staff also isn’t against keeping Pauole at center.

“Every week, we’re looking for the best five [offensive linemen] that we can put out there,” said Hinshaw. “And we concluded that Lokahi at center would be our best opportunity to do that.”

Pictures: UCF Knights beat No. 15 Oklahoma State University 45-3.

Can safety Demari Henderson become a full-time starter? 

Henderson had a standout game in UCF’s victory against Oklahoma State as he recovered a forced fumble and intercepted two passes by the Cowboys.

This was his third fumble recovery of the season and the first career interception for the sophomore.

A Sanford Seminole High standout, Henderson was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week.

“He’s coming into his own,” said defensive coordinator Addison Williams. “Back in fall camp he was working himself into a starter and then injured himself, but he’s come back and hit the ground running.”

Henderson has appeared in seven games, starting the last four at safety for the Knights and registering 14 total tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 passes defended and a forced fumble.

Pro Football Focus has him as the highest-graded defensive back on the team (79.2) and graded seventh (76.6) among safeties in the Big 12.

“The thing about Demari is that every game is still kind of new to him because he’s still young and hasn’t played much ball until this season,” said Williams. “But as the season goes and as his career goes, he has a chance to be a really good player.”

Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.

Behind double-digit scoring from six players, UCF (2-0) battled through a tight first 30 minutes before utilizing a 31-point fourth-quarter surge to topple the Anderson Trojans 96-73 at Addition Financial Arena Monday night.

“Six players in double figures — that’s part of the reason we were able to put up 96 points,” coach Sytia Messer said. “But we also gave up 73. That wasn’t our goal. We have to get better on that part, collectively, but we had different people step up.”

Throughout the Knights’ comfortable victory over Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 6, it was junior transfer guard Kaitlin Peterson and her career-high 31-point game that helped propel UCF to its 38-point win. Monday night, a late push that began in the waning minutes of the third quarter aided the Knights.

With UCF trailing by three and just more than three minutes to play in the third period, the Knights put together a rally that began at the free-throw line. Peterson, Mya Burns and Taylor Gibson combined for the final 10 points to give UCF a 65-61 lead entering the fourth.

Burns, in addition to her 16 points, also snagged 11 rebounds for UCF’s first double-double of the season.

Freshman forward Achol Akot (14 points) netted eight of UCF’s next 12 points to begin the fourth quarter before Peterson (team-high 18 points) made her lone 3-pointer to put the game out of reach.

Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu scored 13 points while Laila Jewett added 12 and Gibson 10.

Harvey was a yard shy of 200 rushing yards and fans wanted the redshirt senior to return to the field despite the Knights holding a commanding 45-3 lead over the Cowboys late in the fourth quarter.

A few carries later, Harvey plowed up the middle of the field for 7 yards, giving him 204 yards and sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

“I knew I had 199 and one possession, I had three straight runs of no gain,” Harvey said. “They [coaches] just put me out there for that one yard. I appreciate all the fans; they showed a lot of support.”

Harvey became the first UCF player to rush for 200 yards since the late Otis Anderson rushed for 205 yards against Temple on Oct. 26, 2019. Harvey became the first Knight to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since Greg McCrae in 2018.

“He’s starting to establish himself as one of the better running backs in our league and probably in the country,” said coach Gus Malzahn.

3 things learned from UCF’s blowout of No. 15 Oklahoma State

It’s been a remarkable season for the former Edgewater High quarterback, who spent one season at the University of Virginia before transferring to UCF in 2020. Along the way, Harvey made the position switch to running back. He missed the entire 2021 season after suffering a season-ending knee injury in fall camp, returning in 2022.

Harvey has been one of the few constants in an up-and-down campaign for UCF.

The Knights (5-5, 2-5 Big 12) opened their first season in the Big 12 by winning their first three games and then lost five straight conference games before defeating Cincinnati and Oklahoma State in back-to-back weeks. They travel to Texas Tech (5-5, 4-3 Big 12) for Saturday’s game  (5 p.m., FS2).

Through it all, the 5-foot-9, 205-pound Harvey has improved every week. He’s one of 16 players in the country with 1,000 rushing yards, with five of them from the Big 12.

“He has all the intangibles of a great runner,” said sophomore receiver Xavier Townsend. “We’ve seen it from spring ball and knew he would have a great season. Maybe not like this;  he’s going crazy.”

Harvey started the season strong, but it wasn’t until the Kansas game on Oct.7 that things began to click. He rushed for 133 yards, averaging 8.3 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown in a 51-22 loss to the Jayhawks. That started a streak of five consecutive 100-yard performances, the longest for UCF since Kevin Smith rushed for eight straight 100-yard games in 2007.

Pictures: UCF Knights beat No. 15 Oklahoma State University 45-3.

“His vision is really good and one of his specialties is to see the hole, find it and hit it,” said offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw.

While he’s averaging 6.4 yards per carry this season, that number has grown to 7.32 yards per carry over the past five games. That’s prompted the coaching staff to put more on the tailback’s shoulders.

“He was averaging 16 touches going into the game and we need him to touch it at least 20 times,” said Hinshaw. “Coach Malzahn says 20 is the number: ‘Let’s get him over 20 every game,’ and that’s what we’re trying to do.

“He’s averaging 8 yards per carry, so we’ve got to continue to feed him the rock.”

Another of Harvey’s attributes is his ability to amass yards after first contact [YAC] by a defender.

According to Pro Football Focus, he ranks fifth among Big 12 running backs in YAC (610) behind Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II (755), Texas’ Jonathon Brooks (731), Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks (704) and TCU’s Emani Bailey (695) and fourth in missed tackles forced (51).

“I’m just going to keep trying to improve every week,” said Harvey.

UCF ranks third in the country in rushing offense (233 yards per game) and eighth in total offense (494). Hinshaw says it all works with what the Knights want to do on offense.

“We have to throw the ball down the field and that helps open up the running game and the running game opens up the throwing the ball downfield,” he said.

While his performance on the field has been exciting to watch, so has his development as a person.

“He’s starting to come out of his shell,” said Malzahn. “He’s one of those guys that when he speaks, everybody listens. They have a lot of respect for him and he’s a super young man with a super heart.”

Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.

On Saturday, the Knights played their best game of the season as running back RJ Harvey rushed for 206 yards and the defense held No. 15 Oklahoma State’s high-powered offense in check while UCF pulled off a stunning 45-3 upset.

It was the first regular-season home win over a top-15 team since a 37-32 win over No. 13 Houston on Nov. 14, 2009.

“Since the beginning of the season, we knew our potential,” said Harvey. “We knew we were better than our record showed. We just couldn’t piece it together. I’m happy that we played our best game today.”

Here are 3 things learned from UCF’s win:

Knights romp over No. 15 Oklahoma State, moving closer to bowl eligibility

Defense makes statement

The unit hasn’t lived up to preseason expectations, ranking near the bottom of the Big 12 in several categories, including rushing defense.

But the Knights shined against the Cowboys, who featured the nation’s leading rusher in Ollie Gordon II. The sophomore managed just 25 yards on 12 carries — 111 yards below his season average.

UCF entered allowing an average of 259 yards per game on the ground in conference play but held the Cowboys to a season-low 52.

“Everybody was executing and in the right spot,” said linebacker Jason Johnson. “Everybody did their jobs and we were able to shut them down.

“We knew we could do it, but it was about time we played a complete game.”

The Knights also forced a season-high 4 turnovers, including three interceptions.

Safety Demari Henderson had a career night with a fumble recovery — his third of the season — and two interceptions. Freshman Braeden Marshall had the other interception, his first.

“Everybody came together and we locked in,” said Henderson. “We’ve been preaching that we’ve got to stop the run and we stopped the run tonight.”

Pauole rescues offensive line

Injuries continue to haunt the Knights up front as redshirt senior Bula Schmidt sat out with an apparent foot injury. Schmidt had been splitting time at guard and center and his absence opened the door for Adrian Medley and Amari Kight.

It also forced the Knights to move longtime interior lineman Lokahi Pauole to center, a position he played for seven snaps last season.

“I want to brag on Lokahi,” said UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. “Not everybody could do what he did. [He] hasn’t snapped a ball since the spring and to be in there touching the ball on every single play was unbelievable.

“He knows all the calls like the back of his hand and to be able to direct the guys, it shows the type of player he is and the type of captain he is. He’s special.”

The Knights have been forced to use an eight-man rotation on the offensive line, with Marcellus Marshall, Tylan Grable, Schmidt and Pauole taking most of the snaps.

Despite that instability, the Knights still feature the top rushing offense (227 yards per game) in the Big 12 and have blocked for a 1,000-yard rusher in Harvey. They’ve also allowed just 19 sacks.

UCF loves the Space Game

Space may be the final frontier, but it’s where UCF has felt the most comfortable.

The Knights improved to 7-0 in Space Games.

Since the label’s inception in 2017, UCF has outscored its opponents 349-147 in the designated game each season, with the Knights winning by an average of 28.9 points.

“There’s something to be said for that,” coach Gus Malzahn said. “These people around here, it’s like a different deal. They got me wearing blue shoes and all this stuff. I kind of like it.”

Added Plumlee: “Space [Game] Week is unbelievably fun here. The way the fans rally around us, it’s cool and special. I’ve been going to college for a long time and have never seen anything like Space Game Week.”

Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.

After all — with apologies to the late, great Neil Armstrong — this was not just one small step for UCF, this was one giant leap for UCF fankind.

UCF 45, No. 15 Oklahoma State 3.

Can you believe it?

Can you conceive it?

What an incredible performance.

What an amazing atmosphere.

What a defense-swarming, field-storming victory.

And what an inexplicable, unexplainable turnaround to a tumultuous, topsy-turvy  season.

“We seized the moment,” UCF coach Gus Malzahn said. “We made a statement to college football that this team can play.”

Did they ever.

The Knights didn’t just beat the 15th-ranked team in the country; they beat up the 15th-ranked team in the country in every facet and phase of the game.

My God, did you see it RJ Harvey’s 92-yard run at the outset of the second half that gave UCF a 31-3 lead? Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II came into the game as the nation’s leading rusher, but Harvey was the best back on the field Saturday, running for 206 yards and three touchdowns and becoming the first UCF player since the great Kevin Smith in 2007 to run for 100 yards or more in five straight games.

And did you see UCF receiver Kobe Hudson, nursing a strained hammy, outrun everybody on his 75-yard touchdown catch that gave UCF a 24-0 halftime lead? Hudson caught just three passes, but they were all for touchdowns.

And did you see UCF’s much-maligned defense hold Gordon, who was averaging 186 rushing yards per game over the last six weeks, to just 25 yards on 12 carries? Moreover, UCF had four takeaways, including three from Demari Henderson, who had two picks and a fumble recovery.

And did you see the game-winning grin on Malzahn’s face after he celebrated his 100th career victory with one of the most satisfying wins of his career? Yes, Malzahn has coached in national-championship games, but he’s never had to coach a team out of a five-game losing streak as he’s done this season.

So much for the consensus opinion two weeks ago when most of us thought UCF’s season was going down the toilet. The Knights were 0-5 in the Big 12 and well on their way to a 3-9 season. Now look at ’em: They’re 5-5 and need just one more win to become bowl eligible in their first Big 12 season.

It’s a good thing UCF’s players and coaches weren’t thinking like the rest of us two weeks ago. They kept believing and telling us that, despite their record, they were still a team to be reckoned with. When I asked Malzahn how he was handling the losing after a 41-28 loss to West Virginia dropped the Knights to 3-5 overall, 0-5 in the Big 12, you could just hear the pain and angst in the coach’s voice.

“I’m not dealing with it very well at all,” said Malzahn, who has never had a losing season in 11 previous seasons as a college head coach. “I’m not happy about it and nobody should be. This is something that’s new to me, but the bottom line is we have to change it.”

And so they did. They went on the road last week and eked out a tough victory over Cincinnati and then they came home Saturday for the “Space Game” and blasted off into a brave new world. UCF has not beaten a regular-season opponent ranked this high since they defeated No. 8 Louisville on the way to their historic Fiesta Bowl season 10 years ago.

Give Malzahn and his team credit for keeping the faith during a losing streak that included the historic meltdown against Baylor and ended with a four-turnover performance against West Virginia.

“This is a real conference and we went through some growing pains,” Malzahn said. “We challenged our guys. We turned up the heat, and they responded.”

Or maybe, too, they have figured out what it takes to win in a Power 5 league. Maybe they just needed to get used to the competition against programs with more money, bigger budgets, better facilities — and deeper, more-talented rosters. Don’t forget, TCU was 11-2, 12-1, 13-0 and 11-2 in the four seasons prior to entering the Big 12 a decade ago but then finished 7-6 and 4-8 in its first two seasons in the league. The Big 12 is not the best conference in college football, but Malzahn says it might be the deepest.

Let’s also remember that starting quarterback John Rhys Plumlee missed the better part of four games when he suffered a knee injury at the end of the second game of the year against Boise State. Plumlee, even though he is still wearing a knee brace, is starting to look more and more like his old self. He not only threw for 299 yards and three TDs against Oklahoma State, he ran for 74 yards.

“The team you saw out there tonight, that’s the team we’ve been wanting to show all season,” Plumlee said. “That’s who we are as a team and we got to put it on display today.”

He continued with a smile splashed across his face:

“It was on the bucket list for me to play in a game where the fans stormed the field, so I can check that one off.”

Actually, it wasn’t so much of a field-storming as a field-strolling. Fans chanted “U-C-F! U-C-F!” and waited patiently while stadium security guards opened the gates. The fans then rushed onto the field in a polite, orderly fashion and even left the goalposts intact.

Unlike the Baylor collapse in which a large number of UCF fans left the game with the Knights holding a 35-7 lead midway through the third quarter, it was refreshing to see so many fans still in the stadium at the end of Saturday’s rain-soaked blowout.

“Maybe there’s something to this Space Game,” a grinning Malzahn said of UCF’s 7-0 record in games commemorating the school’s historic ties to the U.S. space industry.

Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon.

The UCF Knights showed on Saturday that they are reaching for the stars.

This was not just one small step for UCF, this was one giant leap for UCF fankind

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen

As Auburn’s coach, Malzahn witnessed the Knights’ 34-27 upset win over his then-No. 7 Tigers in the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

Flash forward six seasons later and the 58-year-old coach was on the UCF sidelines as the Knights pulled off a monumental win over No. 15 Oklahoma State 45-3 on Saturday in their annual Space Game.

“You’ve got to bring your lunch every week in this conference and we’re learning that,”  Malzahn said. “We got a big quality win on the road last week. This is one of our best games since I’ve been here. Everything is coming together.”

The win moved UCF (5-5, 2-5 Big 12) closer to bowl eligibility (6 wins), earning Malzahn his 100th career win.

The victory was the first regular-season win over a top-15 team since beating then-No. 8 Louisville 38-35 on Oct. 18, 2013. It was also the first regular-season win over a top-15 team at home since knocking off No. 13 Houston 37-32 on Nov. 14, 2009.

UCF jumped out to a commanding 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

The Knights scored on their first four possessions, with running back RJ Harvey starting things off with a 1-yard run out of the Wildcat formation. Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee found receiver Kobe Hudson streaking across the back of the end zone for the second score. Kicker Colton Boomer added a 30-yard field goal.

Plumee found Hudson again on an underthrown ball that the senior caught and raced 75 yards for a touchdown. It was Hudson’s sixth touchdown of the season and the longest reception of his career.

“That’s the team that we’ve been wanting to show all year,” said Plumlee. “That’s who we are as a team and we got to put it on display tonight and I’m glad we did.”

Rain showers midway through the second quarter sent fans scrambling for cover.

Oklahoma State (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) entered the game with the top-scoring offense in the Big 12, averaging 35.83 points per game, but the Cowboys were shut out in the first half for the second time this season.

“To hold that group to 3 points, they’ve been running wild,” Malzahn said of his defense. “So to hold them to 3 points really says a lot.”

OSU tailback Ollie Gordon II, who led the nation in rushing (1,225 yards), had 10 yards on 7 carries in the first half. The sophomore finished with 25 yards on 12 carries.

UCF played its best game defensively, forcing three first-half turnovers with a fumble and a pair of interceptions.

Sophomore safety Demari Henderson recovered a fumble in the first quarter and intercepted tipped passes by Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman in the second and third quarters. It was Henderson’s third fumble recovery of the season and his first career interception.

Harvey continued his impressive season, breaking off a 92-yard run for a touchdown that pushed the Knights’ lead to 31-3 midway through the third quarter.

Plumlee’s third touchdown pass of the game came on a 14-yarder to Hudson that pushed the advantage to 38-3 with 4:00 left in the third quarter.  Hudson’s third touchdown reception of the game gave him 7 touchdowns on the season.

UCF finished with 592 yards of offense, but the defense stood out, holding Oklahoma State to a season-low 52 rushing yards.

“We challenged them. Everybody from outside-in has been challenging them and they answered the bell,” Plumlee said of the defense. “It’s fun to play when they’re playing like that.”

UCF is back on the road for the final time of the season as the Knights travel to Lubbock, Texas, to take on Texas Tech on Saturday. The Red Raiders (5-5, 4-3 Big 12) upset No. 16 Kansas 16-13 and need a win in their final two games for bowl-eligibility.

Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.

Poplar, a junior guard, shot 6 for 8 from the field and was perfect on five 3-point attempts. He has scored 20 or more points in his first two games after only reaching the total once last season.

“He’s an incredible 3-point shooter, an incredible pull-up jump shooter. He’s great going to the basket,” Miami coach Jim Larrañaga said. “As long as he stays in control of his own abilities, he’s going to have a sensational year.”

Norchad Omier had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Bensley Joseph scored 15 points, Matthew Cleveland added 12 and Nijel Pack 11 for the Hurricanes (2-0), who never trailed.

Miami finished with 14 steals and scored 23 points off UCF turnovers.

“We wanted to create a lot of havoc on the defensive end,” Joseph said. “Coming in, our defense was going to change the game for us and we wanted to focus on that.”

The Knights (1-1) used pressure defense and rallied from an 18-point deficit early in the second half and got to within six points at 68-62 on Demarr Langford Jr.’s jumper with 6:11 remaining. But Miami countered with seven unanswered points, capped by Poplar’s 3-pointer with 3:51 remaining.

“That’s what we like to do: get after it, pressure,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said of the second-half comeback. “I thought first half we didn’t find that gear. In the second half we did and that gave us the chance to make some runs. But you give them credit. They were able to withstand the runs that we made.”

Jaylin Sellers finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Darius Johnson and Nils Machowski added 13 each for UCF.

Poplar had 11 points, including three 3s, as Miami built a 30-16 lead with 7:40 remaining in the first half. Poplar sat out the final 6:35 of the half after committing his second foul.

Before the game, there was a brief ceremony commemorating the Hurricanes’ run to the Final Four last season. The ceremony’s highlight was the raising of the Final Four banner.

“It was a magical season and it took a total team effort,” Larrañaga said.

DEFENSE NEVER RESTS

In addition to shooting 5 of 8 from the field, Joseph had five steals and four blocks.

“Just locked in on the defensive end and I know that’s one of my biggest strengths,” Joseph said. “Credit to UCF — they’re a good team — but I felt we scouted them really well and kind of knew what they were going to do on the offensive end.”

BIG PICTURE

UCF: The Knights’ nonconference schedule in their first season as a Big 12 member features six games against Florida schools. After facing Florida International and Miami to start the season, UCF has remaining dates with Stetson, Jacksonville, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman. Missing is former American Athletic Conference and nearby rival South Florida.

Miami: Philadelphia high school senior guard Jalil Bethea heads the list of highly rated recruits who signed letters of intent Wednesday to attend Miami. Multiple recruiting services consider Miami’s signing of Bethea, Minneapolis, forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu and guard Austin Swarz, of Concord, North Carolina, a top-10 national class.

UP NEXT

UCF: Hosts Cal State Fullerton on Thursday.

Miami: Completes its season-opening three-game homestand against Florida International on Monday.

The Knights know everyone will be fired up by the debut of this year’s uniforms, but they also hope it will help the team get its mojo back at FBC Mortgage Stadium.

UCF has dropped consecutive games (Baylor, West Virginia) at home for the first time since 2016.

Adding to the excitement is hosting No. 15 Oklahoma State, which sits atop the conference standings. The last time UCF hosted a ranked team at the Bounce House was No. 20 Cincinnati last season when the Knights pulled off a 25-21 upset.

How can UCF contain Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon? | Analysis

“This is our kingdom,” said fifth-year senior offensive lineman Lokahi Pauole. “They’ve got to stop us on offense and they’ve got to come score some points against our defense. I’m excited to play this game.”

Added sophomore defensive back Nikai Martinez: “It’s going to be very important to get this home win. I don’t even remember the last home win honestly. To be able to get this win for UCF, for us and for the fans who deserve it, that would definitely get us going for the rest of the season.”

Saturday’s game has been a sellout for quite some time and the Knights have been averaging near capacity (44,109 fans) in their four previous home games.

UCF needs to win two of its remaining three games to be bowl eligible. The last time the program didn’t qualify for a bowl game was 2015.

“It’s the same formula. We have got to go win as a team,” said offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw. “Whatever the situation, the offense has got to step up when it’s their time and the defense has got to step up when it’s their time and we’ve got to do it as a team.”

Said coach Gus Malzahn: “We need to get a victory home for our fans. Our fans have been really good and phenomenal.”

Coaches: Malzahn, 3rd season at UCF, 22-14 (99-42 overall); Mike Gundy, 19th season at Oklahoma State, 163-77 (163-77 overall).

Quick slant: This is the first meeting between these programs. … Oklahoma State is 5-4 in games played in Florida. Four wins occurred in bowl games, including victories in the 2017 Camping World Bowl (Virginia Tech, 30-21) and the 2020 Cheez-It Bowl (Miami, 37-34). … Malzahn is one win away from reaching a 100-win milestone.

UCF wants to build momentum heading into final 3 games

About UCF (4-5, 1-5 Big 12): Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee continues to settle back into the starting role after missing three games with a knee injury. Plumlee rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown, his fourth of the season in the win against Cincinnati. … Edge rusher Tre’mon Morris-Brash leads the conference in tackles for loss (16.5) and his 8 sacks is the most by a Knight since Shaquem Griffin (11) in 2016.

About Oklahoma State (7-2, 5-1 Big 12): Quarterback Alan Bowman is coming off his second 300-plus yard performance after throwing for 334 to lead the Cowboys to a 27-24 win over Oklahoma in the Bedlam Series. He’s started the last eight games, leading OSU to 6-2. … Linebacker Nickolas Martin leads the conference in tackles (92) and is fourth in tackles for loss (11.5).

3 things to watch

Slow down Ollie Gordon. UCF’s defense faces perhaps its most significant challenge with the sophomore running back leading the country in rushing yards (1,225), rushing yards per game (136.1), yards after contact (742) and 100-yard games (6). The Knights have allowed eight 100-plus-yard rushers, including Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner (114) and Ryan Montgomery (113) last week.

Keep RJ Harvey rolling. The Knights feature their own talented running back in Harvey, who ranks fifth in rushing yards per game (97.3), fourth in rushing yards (876) and yards after contact (542) and second in rushing touchdowns (9). The senior has rushed for at least 100 yards in four consecutive games and could become the program’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Greg McCrae in 2018.

3 things learned from UCF’s victory at Cincinnati

Avoid turnovers. UCF didn’t turn the ball over once in its win against Cincinnati last week. It was the third time that the Knights didn’t commit a turnover. The team is 2-1 in those games.

Where: FBC Mortgage Stadium

When: 3:30 p.m.

TV: ESPN; Radio: AM 740/FM 96.9 The Game, Sirius/XM 199

Weather: 83 degrees, 0% rain chance

Favorite: Oklahoma State 2.5 points

Online: orlandosentinel.com/knights; @osmattmurschel on X(Twitter).

Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.

A bunch of us reporters were standing around the practice field at Jacksonville University listening to Bobby reflect back on his 44 years as a college head coach.  Bowden, who was 80 at the time, was asked why his career lasted so long.

“I’ve been around coaches where their job means everything to them,” he answered. “I’ve always thought those coaches better be careful or ulcers or nervous breakdowns are going to get them. You see so many coaches who resign because they get burned out. Well, you can’t burn ol’ Bobby out. I’ve tried to keep coaching in perspective. I’ve never made football my God.”

The University of Michigan and Jim Harbaugh should take Bobby’s quote to heart.

Never, ever let football become your god.

As important and as lucrative as winning college football games has become, it should never be so important that it supersedes everything else you’re supposed to stand for as a coach and as an institution of higher learning.

We used to think of the University of Michigan as a bastion of academic excellence,  as one of the nation’s premier research universities and arguably the most esteemed public university in America. Now when we think of Michigan, we think of just another sewer-dwelling, win-at-all-cost football factory that will do anything and everything in its power to win a national championship.

The Wolverines, in their race to get to the top of the college football rankings, actually have sunk to the bottom of the cesspool known as college athletics. The university is in the middle of a cheating scandal in which football staffer Connor Stalions allegedly orchestrated an elaborate and illicit off-campus scouting and signal-stealing scheme. Michigan has not denied that this happened and, in fact, originally suspended Stalions and then accepted his “resignation” a few days ago

The NCAA is conducting an investigation and other Big Ten coaches have urged conference commissioner Tony Petitti to act immediately and punish the Wolverines. The reaction of Michigan administrators should be one of shame and anger for what has happened within their own program, but instead the university is digging in and reportedly threatening legal action if the Big Ten suspends Harbaugh and/or makes the school ineligible to win the conference title.

Michigan’s administration, its fan base and, of course, pandering state politicians are screaming for “due process” when, in fact, all they really want is for this case to drag out long enough so that the No. 3-ranked Wolverines can potentially win a third straight Big Ten title and a possible national championship.

Isn’t it ironic that the university’s own honor code instructs students not to cheat in their academic endeavors so as to create “an honorable environment … and to ensure that no unfair advantage is gained”?

Regrettably, it seems, honor is only demanded of Michigan’s student body but not its college football program; a program in which the coach (Harbaugh) already has  committed NCAA violations for clandestinely bringing recruits on campus during the COVID pandemic and then misleading NCAA investigators about the transgressions.

The saddest part of all is that this sort of behavior is not only expected but accepted in today’s world of college athletics, where winning-addicted fans have signed off on the old NASCAR philosophy: “If you ain’t cheatin’, then you ain’t tryin’. ”

Even some influential media figures such as ESPN’s Paul Finebaum and Fox Sports radio/TV host Colin Cowherd originally gave Harbaugh and Michigan a free pass on the illicit signal stealing but have slowly changed their stances to match the shifting winds of public opinion. Sigh. The media used to be society’s watchdogs, but too many media influencers have become multimillionaire lapdogs for the big-money sports leagues and marquee programs they cover.

It’s pretty pathetic when we have come to expect less from our college programs than we do our professional sports teams. The New England Patriots and the Houston Astros were universally criticized for their respective spying and sign-stealing scandals, but in college sports cheating is no big deal. We actually blame the NCAA rule-makers more than we blame the NCAA rule-breakers. We just shrug when the Kansas basketball program gets nabbed for buying players and the school responds not by firing national-championship-winning coach Bill Self but by signing Self to a lifetime contract.

As fans of college sports, shouldn’t we all demand a higher standard of conduct?

Shouldn’t university presidents stand up and hold their own coaches and programs accountable?

Why do we accept this moral decay in college sports and essentially give our tacit approval to the erosion of core values such as honor and integrity?

Why do we allow sportsmanship and character to be sacrificed at the altar of illicit winning?

Why has victory become more important than virtue?

And most of all, why have we allowed the septic tank of college football to become our god?

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen

For the most part, his team looked like a veteran unit in its 85-62 win over FIU in its season opener on Monday.

“It was pretty good except for the last 15 minutes,” said Dawkins. “We broke down, but the first 25 minutes, I thought the communication was good. Our guards were getting us into things we wanted to get into and we were running it fairly well.”

Transfer guard Jaylin Sellers led 13 Knights in scoring with 23 points while junior guard Darius Johnson added 15 points.

UCF (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) shot 50% (31 of 62) from the floor and had 30 points from its bench.

The Knights held the Panthers to 36% shooting and converted 24 turnovers into 22 points.

UCF basketball excited to kick off season with 10 new players

“We did a great job on defense,” said Johnson. “That’s something we’ve been discussing and preaching to our guys.”

Added Sellers: “We’ve got some things we have to work on, but I would point out how we defended well.”

Several players were absent from Monday’s win.

Fifth-year senior forward C.J. Walker suffered a knee injury during a closed-door scrimmage that required surgery. While there is no timetable for his return, Dawkins doesn’t believe the injury is season-ending.

Fifth-year senior guard Antwann Jones and senior forward Marchelus Avery are dealing with eligibility issues.

The NCAA denied Jones’s waiver for immediate eligibility this week, meaning he will not be available until December. The former Oak Ridge High product is a multi-year transfer, having played at Memphis, Creighton and Louisiana.

“It’s a tough process to go through,” said Dawkins. “I’m disappointed for him. He sat out last year, for the most part, and now again for part of this year and that’s hard on a young person.

“It’s something that you love to do, you’ve been playing all your life and then you’ve been put in a position where you sitting out multiple years for extended periods; that’s hard.”

Jones has appeared in 73 games, averaging 3.9 ppg., 2.5 rpg. and 1.5 apg. He last played in 2021-22 with the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Avery signed with UCF after transferring from New Mexico State when the program was shut down in February due to hazing allegations. An investigation into the incidents led to the firing of coach Greg Heiar. However, a miscommunication led to Avery missing the deadline to enter the portal, leading to the NCAA denying his transfer waiver.

“He didn’t enter the portal the right way because he wasn’t allowed to be on campus,” Dawkins explained. “He wasn’t allowed to communicate with the staff because of everything that happened. He didn’t have counsel people around him saying, ‘This is how you enter the portal.’ So what he did was he just tweeted it out.”

Due to an ongoing investigation, Avery couldn’t communicate with New Mexico State coaches or advisors during his transfer process.

UCF plans to appeal the NCAA’s decision on Avery.

“I’m hopeful they will see that side of it and understand,” said Dawkins. “This, to me, is pretty straightforward. It has nothing to do with anything other than he was told a certain thing that he already did. If you would ask those in that administration, they would confirm that without any problem.”

The 6-foot-7 Avery averaged 6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 44 games.

The Knights return to action Friday with a road contest at No. 13 Miami (7 p.m., ACCX).

The Hurricanes (1-0, 0-0 ACC) are coming off a Final Four appearance and are picked to finish second in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They also feature all-conference selections in forward Norchad Omier and guard Nijel Pack.

“They’re a talented basketball team. They always are,” said Dawkins. “They play hard and play fast.”

Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.