UCF Knights football coach Scott Frost talks injuries vs. Houston
Scott Frost’s UCF Knights team suffered multiple injuries to key contributors during the Nov. 7 Space Game against Houston.
- UCF’s defeat was marked by offensive mistakes and defensive lapses in the second half, issues that have been present all season.
- Despite a strong first half, including a pick-six, the Knights’ offense stalled after halftime, allowing Houston to rally.
- A last-minute drive led by redshirt freshman quarterback Davi Belfort ended with a game-sealing interception in the end zone.
ORLANDO — All good things must come to an end, even UCF’s legendary Space Game voodoo.
The Knights committed the same critical offensive mistakes and temporary defensive lapses that have plagued them all year in their 30-27 defeat to Houston on Friday, Nov. 7. UCF emerged victorious in its first eight Space Games, often cruising by comically lopsided margins.
Each of UCF’s eight previous victories were by at least two scores, and they piled up a total of 405 points (50.6 per game) — including a 70-spot on Temple in 2022 during their American Athletic Conference swan song.
Even in their first two years as Big 12 members, in which they slogged through separate five-game losing skids, UCF miraculously transformed from subpar to spectacular over the course of four hours.
The first half provided signs that inspired hope UCF would overcome its season-long shortcomings. Houston’s Mekhi Mews muffed a punt to set the Knights up for a 1-yard Myles Montgomery touchdown run and a 10-0 advantage, and Phillip Dunnam victimized Cougars quarterback Conner Weigman with a school-record three interceptions — including a 43-yard pick-six to go ahead 24-14 before the break.
But UCF’s opening two possessions after halftime foreshadowed more of the same.
Back-to-back three-and-outs stunted the Knights’ surge, and Houston erased the two-score deficit when Weigman found Dean Connors in the flat for a 9-yard swing pass.
Weigman got his legs going as the night wore on, engineering 11- and 15-play drives that drained more than 12 minutes off the clock and produced the game-tying and go-ahead field goals. Houston accumulated 158 of its 210 rushing yards after halftime.
Yet, there was still time for one final twist — and Frost pulled off a shock ahead of UCF’s do-or-die drive by inserting redshirt freshman Davi Belfort at quarterback.
Unlikely heroes have emerged in Space Games of the past. Dylan Rizk, similarly a fourth-string quarterback to begin the 2024 season, diced up Arizona for 294 passing yards and three touchdowns last November. Demari Henderson earned Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week honors in ’23 when he generated three takeaways versus Oklahoma State.
Belfort — the son of mixed martial arts legend Vitor Belfort — delivered the sought-after spark with a 19-yard run on his first snap. He put the Knights in field goal range with a 17-yard scramble on third-and-11.
And, for a split second, Belfort had an open window to keep the streak alive. Duane Thomas Jr. was uncovered downfield for a potential winning touchdown, but Belfort found him too late and left the pass too short, intercepted in the end zone instead by Katrell Webb.
And thus, an era is over — and, with it, the aura surrounding the Space Game.
The tradition will live on, a fitting one — despite Houston’s protests — given UCF’s foundational roots in providing personnel for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
But no longer can fans feel an air of invincibility or players use the streak as a genuine point of pride like Montgomery did earlier in the week.
“I kind of describe it like a Florida-Georgia or Alabama-Auburn game, or like a Michigan-Ohio State,” Montgomery said. “You can lose every (other) game, but you better not lose that one game.”
Instead, Houston — home to the Johnson Space Center and Mission Control — drew inspiration from UCF’s claim to the final frontier. Cougars coach Willie Fritz said his team watched a video about the city’s ties to NASA the night before kickoff, and Webb delivered words to Rivals moments after handshakes wrapped.
“Space City,” he said, “is our city.”