Piening Catches Final Play as UCF Beats Kansas 33-32
The Knights erased a 19-point deficit in the third quarter to end a 12-game road losing streak in Lawrence, Kansas.
By Beatriz Soto ·
Three seconds.
That was the amount of time left on the clock when Caden Piening caught a 6-yard pass to give the University of Central Florida a 33-32 victory over Kansas on Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas.
The catch ended a 12-game losing streak on the road for the Knights. UCF (5-4, 3-3 in the Big 12) had built a 19-point lead early in the third quarter. Kansas (3-6, 1-5 in the Big 12) scored 25 unanswered points to take a 32-13 lead with 1 minute and 6 seconds remaining.
The Knights ran a 10-play, 73-yard drive that consumed just under one minute. Quarterback Alonza Barnett III, playing his first full game since returning from a hamstring injury, completed 18 of 31 passes for 251 yards. He gained 65 yards during the final drive. The team found the left pylon where Piening secured the ball. Officials upheld the touchdown call after a replay review.
Piening told reporters there was no doubt on the sideline that the team would win. He added, “There was no doubt on the sideline that we weren’t going to go out and win that game.” The redshirt freshman now has three touchdowns in eight games. The winning pass was only the second time Barnett III connected with Piening this season.
Barnett III noted the difficulty of the final sequence. “We were in a couple third downs, a couple of second and longs, but I could look in everybody’s eyes and they believed,” he said. UCF coach Scott Frost admitted the defense struggled to stop Kansas late. “All of a sudden, they got rolling and we couldn’t get a stop,” Frost said. He acknowledged that his team had opportunities to finish the game earlier but failed to capitalize.
Kansas punted on its opening possession. UCF intercepted the ball on its first play from scrimmage and returned it to the Kansas 3-yard line. Isaiah Marshall ran for 1 yard to put the Jayhawks ahead. UCF responded with a field goal from the Kansas 19-yard line.
In the second quarter, UCF converted a fourth-and-1. Duane Thomas Jr. rushed for 10 yards to take the lead. The Knights added another field goal to lead 12-7 at halftime. UCF held Kansas to 61 total yards of offense in the first half.
The third quarter saw UCF score on two consecutive drives. Taevion Swint ran for 1 yard, and Josh Derry caught a 44-yard pass. Derry finished with a game-high 143 receiving yards. Kansas then took the lead on a 30-yard run by Marshall and a 2-yard run by Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman. The Jayhawks also made a 34-yard field goal before their final score.
UCF was not penalized once during the game. The team entered the matchup ranked 36th in Division I for fewest penalty yards per game, having committed 50 flags for 385 yards through eight games. Both teams were perfect in the red zone. UCF scored on all five trips, while Kansas converted on four. Senior linebacker Curtis Tackett recorded a team-high 11 tackles and two quarterback hurries. UCF hosts Arizona State next Saturday, while Kansas travels to West Virginia.
