Big 12 Football: UCF putting No. 6 OU on upset alert on the road

The first Big 12 football game involving a ranked team on Oct. 21 sees head coach Brent Venables and the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners host head coach Gus Malzahn and the sliding UCF Knights at home at Memorial Stadium in Norman. UCF entered Week 8 looking for its first win in conference play this year.

Malzahn and the Knights struggled at the outset of Big 12 play, losing each of their first three games in the conference slate, including a crazy 26-point comeback win by the Baylor Bears in the fourth quarter against UCF a few weeks ago.

Gus Malzahn and UCF have the Big 12 football conference leader No. 6 OU on upset alert

It looked like UCF was coming into a gauntlet against an Oklahoma team that is fresh off its bye week after a big 34-30 win over the No. 3 Texas Longhorns on Oct. 7 in the Red River Rivalry game. OU entered Week 8 with a spotless 6-0 (3-0 Big 12) record on the season. The Sooners had also defeated its first two opponents in Big 12 play by double digits.

Oklahoma entered this game as a sizable 17-point favorite in the pre-game spread over UCF at home. The Sooners got off to a decent start against the Knights, scoring a first-quarter touchdown behind a couple of key defensive stops to take the lead early on.

But Malzahn’s squad dialed it up in the second quarter, holding OU scoreless on two straight drives. UCF also rattled off two straight scoring drives, including a rushing touchdown from quarterback John Rhys Plumlee.

UCF had the chance to extend the lead to one touchdown on its most recent drive in the second quarter. But Oklahoma’s defense held the Knights to a field goal after UCF drove down inside the Sooner 10-yard line.

The lone touchdown up to this point of the game for the Sooners was a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dillon Gabriel to wide receiver Nic Anderson.

As it stands now, UCF holds a 10-7 lead over Oklahoma in a much closer game than originally anticipated.