UCF Knights fall to Red Wolves in AutoNation Cure Bowl

The UCF Knights had a few factors on their side walking into Camping World Stadium on Saturday. The home field advantage was certainly behind them, with a crowd of 27,213 fans mostly decked out in black and gold. They were also hungry to shake off a two-game losing streak to end the regular season, including a painful loss to a rival USF team.

But all that in combination with the team’s effort wasn’t enough as the Knights’ season ended in disappointment: a 31-13 loss to the Arkansas State Red Wolves in the AutoNation Cure Bowl.

The game was set to be a defensive battle between the two teams, but the Knights quickly let the game come out of reach within the first quarter due to costly mistakes.

It all started four minutes into the game when Arkansas State running back Johnston White broke the line and blocked a punt deep in Knights territory, leading to a touchdown recovery in the end zone by B.J. Edmonds.

The Red Wolves would shortly after extend their lead even further with a field goal followed by a forced fumble deep in Knights territory that led to another touchdown, bringing the score to 17-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Knights responded with a much stronger second quarter, holding the Red Wolves scoreless in that 15-minute span and cutting their lead down to seven points thanks to a touchdown by Taylor Oldham and a field goal by kicker Matthew Wright.

The Knights made the game interesting with a score of 17-10 at half time, but that would be the last time they reached the end zone in the 2016 season.

Arkansas State came out swinging in the first minute of the second half. Red Wolves quarterback Justice Hansen found an open Kendall Sanders, who caught a pass and ran it down for a 75-yard touchdown. The visiting team continued to prove they had the superior defense, only allowing one more Knights field goal while Hansen found Sanders again early in the fourth quarter for another touchdown.

Sanders had a career performance, scoring three of the Red Wolves’ four touchdowns.

The Knights’ 2016 season was certainly a step in the right direction under new head coach Scott Frost. They finished with a 6-7 record and a bowl game appearance, a far cry from their miserable campaign last year where they didn’t win a single game all season.

“We have a lot of growing up to do still as a program,” Frost said after the game. “I think it’s unbelievable what these guys accomplished this year and what they got out of the team, but we’re going to have to fix mistakes, we’re to have to get stronger, we’ve got to be more physical, and we have to play harder.”

“I think it’s harder to go from 6-6 to 10-2 than it is going from 0-12 to 6-6, so we have a lot of work to do.”