Toledo defeated UCF 27-24 Saturday, denying the Knights of their second straight MAC victory. The Knights allowed 300 yards of rushing and 497 yards of total offense.  

“I don’t know what was going on, but they were running on us,” said UCF middle-linebacker Chad Mascoe. 

The Rockets dominated the line of scrimmage, getting 100-yard rushing games from two of their running backs. Astin Martin and Trinity Dawson  ran for 113 and 110 yards respectively, allowing Toledo to pile up 35 minutes and 25 seconds of possession time.

“We just didn’t have the ball that much ,” said UCF offensive-lineman Taylor Robertson. “We’d get the ball and have a drive and then sit on the sideline for seven, eight minutes.” 

The Knights had a 10-0 lead at the half, but Toledo came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. Rockets QB Brian Jones threw two second-half touchdowns, and led a balanced offensive attack that the Knights had no answer for.  

“We execute everyday during practice,” said UCF Coach Mike Kruczek. “I don’t know why we don’t do it on Saturday.” 

UCF gave up touchdowns on four straight Toledo Possessions in the second-half, and the Rockets steady ground-attack enabled them to run 33 more plays than the Knights. 

I just feel it was momentum in that second-half,” said UCF linebacker Stanford Rhule. “They came out wanting the win more than we wanted it. I don’t know if we came in at halftime and thought the game was over or what.” 

While UCF struggled to keep Toledo out of the end-zone, the Rockets came up with big defensive plays in crucial moments. Doug Gabriel fumbled at Toledo’s 42-yard line during a crucial drive, and the Rockets recovered the ball to seal their victory. 

“Our defense came up with some big stops when we had to have them,” said Toledo coach Tom Amstutz. 

Despite seeing their 2-game winning streak snapped, there were some bright spots on the day for UCF.  

Dee Brown was impressive once again, gaining 63 yards on the ground and catching three passes for 67 yards. His 36-yard run in the first-half was the longest run from scrimmage for a UCF player this season. 

The Knights secondary also looked strong at times, getting interceptions from Atari Bigby and Asante Samuel. 

Kruczek and company will try to build on these positive areas as they prepare for next weeks’ Homecoming opponent, the Akron Zips.

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