LAWRENCE, Kan. – UCF scored the game-winning touchdown with one second remaining in regulation as the Knights defeated Kansas 33-32 on Saturday evening at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
The touchdown by UCF came after the Jayhawks scored 25 unanswered points, turning a 26-7 deficit early in the third quarter into a 32-26 advantage with 1:06 to play after Dylan Edwards scored a two-yard touchdown run.
Kansas totaled 404 yards of offense, with 210 yards through the air and 194 on the ground. Isaiah Marshall completed 21-of-32 passes for 210 yards, while also rushing for a game-high 125 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Marshall recorded the first game with multiple rushing touchdowns in his career, while becoming the first Jayhawk quarterback with 100+ rushing yards and two touchdowns in a game since Jalon Daniels at Houston in 2023.
Edwards and Khijohn Cummings-Coleman each had rushing touchdowns in the win, while Marshall completed passes to six different receivers, with Nik McMillan leading the six while Keaton Kubecka and Cam Pickett had five apiece.
Blake Herold led KU’s defense with eight tackles, including 4.0 tackles for loss and forced a fumble. Trey Lathan had seven tackles and an interception, while Leroy Harris III had six tackles, including four solo and three sacks, one of which forced a fumble.
With the defeat, Kansas moved to 3-6 (1-5 Big 12) on the year, while UCF improved to 5-4 (3-3 Big 12) this season.
Kansas scored first, capping off an exciting sequence of plays with a one-yard touchdown run from Marshall on fourth and goal. The Jayhawks punted on their first drive of the game, but quickly forced a turnover as David Santiago pressured UCF’s Alonza Barnett III and forced his pass into the air where it was picked off by Trey Lathan. Lathan was then stripped of the ball, but Marcus Calvin recovered and carried the ball to the three-yard line, which is where KU’s drive started. After the score, KU led 7-0 at the 10:25 mark in the first quarter.
UCF answered with a field goal on its next drive and took the lead for the first time at 9-7 following a 10-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. The Knights forced five KU punts in the first half and the teams traded fumbles, but the Jayhawks trailed by just five, 12-7 at halftime after UCF added a 23-yard field goal at the 5:55 mark.
After deferring to the second half, UCF got possession first in the third quarter and scored two quick touchdowns to extend its lead to 26-7 just over five minutes into the second half. Kansas answered with its best drive of the day, covering 75 yards in 10 plays and ending with a 30-yard touchdown run from Marshall as the Jayhawks cut the deficit to 26-14 with 4:17 to go in the quarter.
KU matched three-and-outs on defense with offensive scores over the next two possessions, using a three-yard touchdown run from Cummings-Coleman to get within 26-21 at the 11:26 mark before a 34-yard field goal from Martin Connington made it 26-24 with 5:29 to play.
Another defensive stop, followed by a good UCF punt, left Kansas starting at its own five-yard line with 2:27 to play. Marshall guided the offense down the field in 11 plays, converting on fourth down on the first set of downs before he quickly moved the Jayhawks across midfield. The play of the drive came as Marshall stared down pressure and found Nahzae Cox down the sideline for a 42-yard gain that got the Jayhawks down to the five-yard line. Two plays later, Edwards plunged in from three yards out for the go-ahead score with 1:06 to play.
UCF’s offense, which hadn’t registered a first down in the fourth quarter before its final drive, covered 73 yards in the game’s final minute and scored the game-winning touchdown on a six-yard pass from Barnett to Caden Piening with one second remaining to claim the victory.
Next up for Kansas is a trip to West Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 14, before returning to The Booth for its final home game of the season on Nov. 21 against No. 9 BYU.
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