UCF football stays unbeaten in Space Games, crushes No. 15 Oklahoma State | 3 takeaways

ORLANDO — For the seventh year running, UCF's football team turned into juggernauts when they temporarily adopted the nickname Citronauts.

RJ Harvey ran for a career-high 206 yards, recording his second straight three-touchdown game, and John Rhys Plumlee connected with Kobe Hudson for three touchdown passes as UCF (5-5, 2-5) crushed No. 15 Oklahoma State 45-3 for its first Big 12 home win.

UCF's defense turned in, comfortably, its best outing of the season, slowing down Ollie Gordon II, the nation's leading rusher entering the week. The Knights held Gordon to 25 yards on 12 attempts and forced four turnovers, including three interceptions of Cowboys quarterback Alan Bowman.

See them here! UCF space uniforms unveiled for football game against Oklahoma State

"We talked about seizing the moment, man," said UCF coach Gus Malzahn, who notched his 100th career coaching victory. "Our guys made a statement to college football that this team can play. We've got to continue to play at this high level the last two games."

UCF improved to 7-0 all-time in Space Games, notching its first win in such occasions over a ranked opponent. It has outscored those seven combatants 349-147, an average margin of victory of 28.9 points per game.

Fans were invited to rush the field once Oklahoma State cleared out, though security guards surrounded the goalposts and lined the tunnel openings well before the final whistle.

"That's the team that we've been wanting to show all year. That's who we are," said Plumlee, who took part in the on-field, post-game celebration. "We got to put it on display tonight, and I'm glad that we did.

"It was on the bucket list, for me, to play in a game where the fans stormed the field. So I can check that one off."

With the victory, UCF can achieve bowl eligibility in its debut Big 12 season with a win in either of its last two contests — at Texas Tech next Saturday, or Houston the weekend of Thanksgiving. It was a shocking blowout, considering the hot streak Oklahoma State (7-3, 5-2) had been riding.

The Cowboys beat rival Oklahoma last week in the final Bedlam chapter for the foreseeable future, vaulted up to No. 15 in the College Football Playoff rankings (No. 17 in the US LBM Coaches Poll) and gained the inside track on a spot in the conference's championship game.

"It’s pretty simple, you know. I thought I had it in my mind and I was pretty close," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. "The thing that concerned me going into the game was their offense. I think they’re really good on offense, I think they’re really good at what they do. And I was really concerned about third down conversions as I mentioned and they were 50% today on third down. They stayed on the field, we couldn’t slow down the run and offensively we turned the ball over."

Here are three takeaways from the Knights' signature performance of the 2023 campaign.

RJ Harvey becomes UCF's 1st 1,000-yard rusher in 5 years

Harvey believes he is improving every week as the Knights' backfield workhorse, and it's hard to argue based on his productivity.

He extended his streak of 100-yard rushing games to five, the longest run for a UCF player since Kevin Smith's record-setting 2007 campaign. Smith closed that year with eight straight triple-digit days, and finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting.

The 5-foot-9, 205-pound redshirt senior became the first Knight to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a single season since Greg McCrae in 2018. He broke the single-game career-high he set just last week in an historic road win at Cincinnati.

Harvey opened the scoring with a 1-yard Wildcat keeper at the 11:50 mark of the first quarter. He effectively put the game out of reach after halftime with the second-longest run in program history, a 92-yard burst through the heart of the Cowboys' defense with wide receiver Javon Baker shielding him for the home stretch.

He capped the scoring with a 2-yard run, set up by a 32-yard reception by Baker. And he stuck around just long enough, a full fourth-quarter drive and one additional Wildcat snap for the necessary 7 yards to break 200 for the first time.

"Coaches were telling me on the sideline that they were going to get me that 200," Harvey said.

Lee Hunter, Demari Henderson anchor defensive dominance

UCF's defense excelled at all three levels Saturday afternoon, making crucial plays and controlling the line of scrimmage in the face of seemingly long odds. Through nine games, the Knights ranked 127th nationally against the run.

Redshirt sophomore Lee Hunter had a team-high eight tackles, including six solo stops and two TFLs, and served as a constant nuisance for the interior of Oklahoma State's reshuffled line. Jireh Wilson forced a fumble and pressured Bowman into a fourth-down incompletion with the Cowboys clinging to hope of an improbable comeback.

But the day's breakout star was one of UCF's touted "hometown heroes" — sophomore safety Demari Henderson.

Henderson recovered the fumble Wilson forced, halting Oklahoma State's first drive near midfield. He grabbed his first career interception just before halftime, and added another in a quick-change, short-field situation after Plumlee was stripped on a Collin Oliver sack. He bobbled the ball initially, but caught it the second time around.

One play later, Harvey was off to the races for his 92-yard score, and UCF built an insurmountable four-score lead.

"It really just ain't hit me yet," Henderson, a Sanford native, said. "It feels good, though. I see all the little kids watching us from home, and they know that they can do it too. Just keep pushing."

Braeden Marshall, a fellow Seminole County native hailing from nearby Lake Mary, also had his first pick after corralling a ball batted into the air by Decorian Patterson.

"They were running wild on some pretty good defenses," Malzahn said. "To hold them to three points, that really says a lot."

John Rhys Plumlee appears healthier, praises new center Lokahi Pauole

In addition to one of his best downfield passing displays as UCF quarterback, Plumlee toted the ball a season-high 14 times for 74 yards. He largely avoided big hits when scrambling or on designed runs and picked up a handful of third-down conversions on the ground.

Just over two months removed from a meniscus injury that sidelined him for three games, Plumlee is "getting his legs underneath him," Malzahn said.

"He's got a good feel," Malzahn added. "He's not 100%; I think everybody knows that. He got some yards, he slid, he was smart. When you take a hit like he did against Boise, it changes you. I thought he managed the ball and the game really well."

All three of Plumlee's touchdown tosses found Hudson, highlighted by a 75-yard free play after the Cowboys jumped offside. He drilled a pair of slants to Hudson inside the red zone as well, scoring strikes of 7 and 14 yards.

Hudson said he played through a hamstring injury and was also nowhere near full-go.

"Our mindset is that we can come in and beat anybody," Hudson said. "We were aggressive today. Coach Gus let us play. He let John Rhys be free. We made a couple of mistakes, but we came back and capitalized when we needed to."

Xavier Townsend returned from two-game absence due to an ankle injury and set the tone with a 38-yard catch on the first play from scrimmage. Lokahi Pauole manned the center position in place of the injured Bula Schmidt, with Adrian Medley and Marcellus Marshall flanking him at the two guard spots.

UCF has started four centers this fall, and rotated through offensive line combinations on a week-to-week basis. But this particular quintet, assuming everyone remains healthy, has the potential to stick for the Knights' final two contests.

"Not everybody can do what he did," Plumlee said of Pauole, UCF's starting right guard the previous nine games. "He hasn't snapped a ball since the spring. To be in there, touching the ball every single play, is unbelievable. It shows what kind of athlete he is, and it shows what kind of player he is. He knows all the calls like the back of his hands."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football: Knights pound Oklahoma State in Space Game | 3 takeaways