If Cincinnati-Central Florida wasn't already a rivalry (it was), it certainly is now.
Cincinnati Bearcats football coach Luke Fickell said his players were "heartbroken" and "hurt" Saturday night. It was a pain many of them had never felt.
UCF, on its homecoming, broke Cincinnati's hearts by handing the Bearcats a 25-21 loss in likely the two American Athletic Conference foes' last meeting before joining the Big 12 Conference next summer. The loss snapped Cincinnati's 19-game conference winning streak, dating back to 2019.
Cincinnati Bearcats football:UCF Knights hand No. 20/19 Cincinnati Bearcats 1st conference loss since 2019
"Obviously a tough one for us," Fickell said. "There are a lot of heavy hearts in there. They battled, they fought. We weren't at our best today, but we found a way to get back into it. What we have found ourselves able to do the last four weeks is find ways at the end to finish. That's what we did not do today. We'll challenge ourselves. We'll find out what we're really made of coming back this week. We didn't get it done tonight. I feel bad. I feel really bad for those guys, because it's not from a lack of work or fight. We got exposed a little bit in some situations we have to get a lot better at."
The Bearcats (6-2, 3-1) will look to regroup and rebound against Navy (3-5, 3-3) on Nov. 5 at Nippert Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. on ESPNU.
What we learned from Saturday's loss:
Another slow start for the UC offense
Cincinnati had flirted with disaster in recent weeks but still managed to come out on the winning side. That didn't happen against the Knights (6-2, 3-1).
Penalties had been an "Achilles' heel" (Fickell's words) for the Bearcats. On Saturday, they committed just five penalties for 25 yards. The bigger issue for Cincinnati was the offense's slow start and meager performance in the first half.
With senior quarterback Ben Bryant leading the charge, the Bearcats managed just 30 yards in 10 plays through the first quarter. Cincinnati's first three drives ended with a punt. In fact, four of UC's six first-half possessions ended with punter Mason Fletcher trotting onto the field. The other two ended with the Bearcats stalling in the red zone and settling for field goals by kicker Ryan Coe.
Cincinnati Bearcats football:Kicker Coe, punter Fletcher turning into not-so-secret weapons for Bearcats
Cincinnati’s 159 yards in the first half were the fewest the Bearcats have had at halftime this season and the fewest since the loss to Alabama in last season's College Football Playoff (76 yards).
But Cincinnati's offense has consistently started slowly this season. Senior wide receiver Tre Tucker, who finished with a single-game, career-high 10 catches for 110 yards (most of that damage coming in the second half), said he can't explain the offense's continuous issues early in games.
"Honestly, I don't know," he said. "I know it's something we need to fix. We'll get back to work tomorrow (Sunday). We'll look at what we need to do. But other than that I would just say we've all got to be on the same page. I don't know. It's kind of hurting us early on. And then we get there in the second half and we're clicking. We've got to find a way to do that from start to finish."
The slow starts proved detrimental in the season-opening loss at Arkansas and again on Saturday. Bryant missed on several early throws against the Razorbacks. He did the same against the Knights. But Tucker defended Bryant after the loss.
"I think Ben played great, man," he said. "It's hard. I don't think people understand. Obviously, the quarterback position is the hardest position on the field, but he stands back there and takes hits. The thing I like about him is he's just aggressive and he sits back there and waits and gives us time to work and do what we've got to do. Some of it's on us. We've got to make sure we continue to get open. But I think he played great. He took shots and he kept getting up."
The offensive issues weren't just on Bryant. The offensive line struggled too. Bryant was sacked four times on the day for a loss of 41 yards. The struggles up front caused the running game to sputter.
Cincinnati's running back duo of Charles McClelland and Ryan Montgomery couldn't get anything going. McClelland, who entered the day with 100-plus yards in each of the last two games and 87 yards the week before that, managed just 36 yards on 11 carries. Montgomery had 40 yards on three carries, but 39 of those came on a late score.
Fickell elected not to play running back Corey Kiner (five rushing touchdowns in six games) even through the former Roger Bacon High School standout was healthy and available. Kiner averages 4.3 yards per carry this season. He averaged 8.8 yards per carry in the win at Tulsa.
"I just think it was a situation where obviously the ball wasn't being run nearly as much," Fickell said. "We've been rolling guys in there to try and go with what's the hot hand. We'll look back at it and see if we don't need to get three guys in there. I know Ryan (Montgomery) was in there a little bit more with some of the passing game stuff. It's hard to get those guys a lot of opportunities when you don't feel like you're running the ball well in the first half."
The lack of a running game put more pressure on Bryant, who completed 12 of 21 passes for 147 yards before halftime. He finished 25 of 45 with 298 yards and a 14-yard passing touchdown to tight end Josh Whyle late in the third quarter.
"They played a lot of man and loaded up the box," Bryant said. "So it was tough to run the ball. We had to rely on the passing game this game. ... But that's my job. I've got to do my job, and receivers gotta win versus man, and then we've got to throw and catch the ball. It really comes down to that."
While Kiner was relegated to the sideline, as was dual-threat, backup quarterback Evan Prater. Fickell said his plan all along was to stick with Bryant.
"We felt like that's what we needed to do, and if Ben was able to go we needed to stick with it," he said. "Evan was ready to roll. Not that it would change a whole lot. Maybe it would loosen up the run game a little bit, help us out a little bit, I think that's where we have to really look at it and see the other ways we can use all of our guys the best way possible."
UC continues to struggle against the run
While the Bearcats couldn't run the ball, they couldn't stop it either. Cincinnati allowed a season-high 258 yards on the ground. It marked the third time this season that the Bearcats surrendered at least 220 rushing yards.
"It gets frustrating," Fickell said.
Knights running back RJ Harvey had the best game of his career, rushing 18 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns. All were career highs.
UCF was able to run the ball and thus control the game. The Knights dictated the action and went at their pace. Time of possession: UCF 37:05; Cincinnati 22:55.
'Now, your back's against the wall a little bit'
The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season will be revealed Tuesday night. The Bearcats won't be included. However, their goal of capturing a third straight AAC championship is still within reach. They just need to leave Saturday's loss in Orlando.
"Your objective is to play for a championship," Fickell said. "Now, your back's against the wall a little bit. That's when you find out how willing are you to sacrifice some of the ego, humble yourself and take a good, hard look at it. That's what we've got to do. I don't believe there's anything out of the mix for us. As long as they believe that and they understand that, it doesn't change anything. That's when you rely on your leadership."
Cincinnati needs to win its final four games. But right now, the priority is wiping the slate clean and preparing for Navy.
"When a team loses, they find out a lot about themselves and how we respond to adversity," Bryant said. "I think we're going to do a really good job at that and getting back to work this week and ultimately becoming a better team for it."