Gasparilla Bowl takeaways: UCF falls to Georgia Tech, suffers 1st losing season since '16

TAMPA — Gus Malzahn's desire to roll UCF's football momentum into 2024 hit a speedbump about 90 minutes from home Friday night.

Georgia Tech (7-6) scored the final 27 points of the Gasparilla Bowl, and Jamal Haynes set a career-high with 128 of the Yellow Jackets' 284 rushing yards in a 30-17 victory over the Knights at Raymond James Stadium.

Transfer portal tracker: Who's leaving, joining UCF football for 2024?

UCF (6-7) finished its debut Big 12 campaign with its first losing record since 2016, and the first in Malzahn's 12-year college career. The Knights had won in each of their five previous trips to Tampa, three victories against former conference rival South Florida and two prior Gasparilla Bowl triumphs.

"Overall, I'm disappointed that we weren't able to get a winning record and a bowl victory not just for our players but for our fans," Malzahn said. "There have been a lot of ups and downs in this first year. This is a tough night."

UCF failed to score on each of its final seven drives, and produced just a solitary field goal in its last nine. That was after jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the opening quarter as John Rhys Plumlee tossed two touchdowns.

Plumlee, making his last start at quarterback for the Knights, exited late in the fourth quarter after feeling discomfort in his leg on a designed run.

"I felt I was not at my 100% best, and it was not fair to the team if I was out there," Plumlee said. "I got a good report, so we'll look at it and see what it all leads to.

"Looking back on my two years here at UCF, it's been really special. This is all I've ever really wanted to do, play football and baseball at the highest level and be around coaches and teammates like this. Dream come true for me, no doubt. I'll look back at this time of my life and smile on it."

Here are three takeaways as UCF tries to pick up the pieces entering a pivotal offseason.

RJ Harvey, Javon Baker announce plans to return in 2024

With Texas and Oklahoma departing for the SEC in the summer, the Big 12 will be wide open for the foreseeable future. UCF's chances at taking control of the conference received a big boost in the hours leading up to the Gasparilla Bowl.

Leading rusher RJ Harvey said Thursday night he had "unfinished business" and wanted to "run it back" in 2024. About 90 minutes before kickoff, first-team All-Big 12 wide receiver Javon Baker declared his intentions to return as well.

Baker opened the scoring with a 23-yard touchdown grab just 83 seconds into the game. Later in the opening period, he became the first UCF receiver to surpass the 1,000-yard mark since Marlon Williams in 2020 with a leaping 36-yard catch along the left sideline.

The Atlanta native ended the night with game-highs in receptions (nine), targets (13) and receiving yards (173).

Harvey hit the 100-yard rushing mark for the seventh time in eight games, gaining 120 on 15 carries. Georgia Tech entered ranked 128th in the Football Bowl Subdivision against the run, but limited the Knights to 169 yards on the ground and kept Harvey out of the end zone for the first time since Oct. 28.

"There's no doubt about it. That's big for next year," Malzahn said.

Familiar problems happen again as UCF squanders early lead

UCF capitalized on some good fortune on its second drive when Plumlee was ruled down by contact prior to tossing an ugly red-zone interception to Georgia Tech linebacker Kyle Efford. Two snaps later, he fired a 17-yard scoring strike to Kobe Hudson to double the advantage to 14-0.

Momentum started to shift though when Plumlee and Hudson failed to connect on a third-down throw from the Yellow Jackets' 10 midway through the second quarter. Instead of taking a 21-3 lead, the Knights were forced to settle for a Colton Boomer 27-yard field goal.

Georgia Tech responded with back-to-back touchdowns, a 5-yard run by quarterback Haynes King and a 41-yard bomb to Malik Rutherford in the final minute of the half.

Familiar UCF problems crept in over the final 30-plus minutes: clock management issues before halftime, field goal execution, untimely penalties, prolonged periods of offensive malfunction and an inability to stop the run.

Taking over with 56 seconds left, UCF drove the ball back into the red zone quickly with three straight completions, a Georgia Tech personal foul and a Plumlee scramble. Plumlee scanned the field and drained precious time off the clock, leaving Malzahn with a decision with eight seconds and no timeouts left.

He sent out Boomer, who shanked a 30-yard chip shot wide left. The sophomore ended the season by missing five of his last eight field goal tries.

And that failure might have influenced another key moment out of halftime.

Down 20-17 with under nine minutes to play in the third quarter, UCF faced fourth-and-1 at the Tech 20. Harvey rounded the right edge with ease to convert, but Marcellus Marshall was guilty of a hold.

Instead of sending Boomer out for a 47-yard kick, Malzahn chose to go for it, and Plumlee's pass over the middle for Baker fell incomplete. UCF went 2 of 5 in the red zone, while Georgia Tech came away with points on all five of its chances.

Georgia Tech tacked on 10 more points in the fourth quarter, most notably a fourth-and-goal, 1-yard TD run by Dontae Smith, to secure its first bowl victory in seven years.

"Really a capsule of our entire season," said Georgia Tech coach Brent Key, a UCF assistant from 2005-15. "Learning how to do things the right way. Play for four quarters and to go into every game expecting to win. They kept fighting and good things happened."

UCF lands talented 2025 wide receiver recruit from Tampa area

UCF celebrated its highest-ranked signing class of all-time Wednesday, with eight of its 18 recruits considered blue-chip prospects. The Knights' 2025 class got a boost Friday, courtesy of one of Tampa's top talents.

Santonyo Isaac announced a verbal commitment on the heels of a strong junior season for Tampa Bay Tech. The 6-foot, 170-pound Isaac caught 30 passes for 695 yards and nine touchdowns.

National Signing Day: Industry experts break down UCF's historic 2024 recruiting class

Isaac is the No. 52 junior wide receiver in the nation, and the No. 53 overall player in the state of Florida. UCF brought in four wide receivers for its 2024 signing class, including a pair from the Tampa area — Armwood's Kason Stokes and Carrollwood Day's Bredell Richardson.

Isaac made waves nationally as a freshman, averaging 27.8 yards per catch, scoring five times and playing all 14 games for Tampa Bay Tech as it reached the FHSAA Class 7A state championship game.

UCF now has three commits for 2025, all on the offensive side of the ball: Isaac, Osceola running back Taevion Swint and Cocoa tackle/guard Jaquez Joiner.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Gasparilla Bowl: 3 takeaways from UCF's loss to Georgia Tech