UCF’s magical run to Big 12 status started a decade ago with this week’s Big 12 opponent — Baylor

It’s been a decade since Blake Bortles was part of UCF’s memorable 12-1 season in 2013, capped by the Knights’ improbable win in the Fiesta Bowl.

The time seems to have gone by in a snap for Bortles.

“I can’t believe it’s been 10 years,” said Bortles. “On one hand, it feels like just the other day and on the other, it feels like it was 50 years ago.”

The memories are as vivid now as they were on Jan. 1, 2014, when UCF pulled off one of the most shocking upsets with its 52-42 win over sixth-ranked Baylor at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

The Knights were a 16-point underdog, but many analysts predicted a bigger beatdown by the Bears who featured the top offense in the country, averaging 52 points and 619 yards per game.

But as many people learned throughout that season, nothing was what it seemed.

‘These guys are unbelievable’

It was the first season in the newly minted American Athletic Conference and UCF was picked by the media to finish fourth, behind Louisville, Cincinnati and Rutgers.

Michael Colubiale was a freshman when he joined the team as a walk-on tight end and was impressed.

“I remember getting there and going through summer workouts and 7 on 7’s and watching our offense with Blake Bortles and J.J. Worton and I was like, ‘Holy smokes! These guys are unbelievable,” said Colubiale.

It was during that summer that Joey Grant made the switch from the defensive line to center.

“That year was about so much cohesiveness as a team, overcoming adversity, and really learning how to win,” Grant said.

After a 3-0 start, including a wild 34-31 win at Penn State, UCF would let a 10-0 halftime lead at No. 12 South Carolina slip away, leading to a 28-25 defeat.

“After we lost that game, it was like we are never going to self-defeat [again],” said Grant. “We can beat the heck out of anybody and I honestly felt that the South Carolina game was the pivotal moment.”

The Knights would feed off that confidence for the rest of the season.

It started with a fourth-quarter rally to beat Memphis, 24-17, followed by a thrilling 38-35 win at eighth-ranked Louisville in perhaps one of the all-time classic games.

Three weeks later, UCF would need another miraculous finish as Worton made an unbelievable one-handed catch in the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown with 1:06 left to escape with a 39-36 win at Temple.

“That whole season was crazy,” said former linebacker Terrance Plummer.

Added Bortles: “I remember later in the season, all of a sudden seeing us in the top 25 [poll] and everybody’s kind of looking around like, ‘Oh [expletive], that’s pretty cool.'”

No. 15 UCF would finish the regular season 11-1, claiming its first AAC championship and earning its first Bowl Championship Series bid.

The next opponent would be Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl.

No respect

Baylor had stormed through its season, winning by an average of 38 points per game, led by quarterback Bryce Petty — who finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting — tailback Lache Seastrunk and receiver Antwan Goodley.

When the bowl matchups were announced, it seemed nobody had faith in UCF.

“Leading up to the game, Baylor people were bashing us like we didn’t belong there,” said Colubiale.

Said Grant: “It was such a weird time because everybody is telling us we’re going get the [expletive] kicked out of us by Baylor.”

If the Knights’ motivation for the game were a flame, it would quickly grow into an inferno.

“What helped is the number of people who thought we would get smacked,” said Plummer. “[Former ESPN analyst] Mark May said we would lose 70-7. I’ll never forget watching the bowl selection show and him saying Baylor was much better than us.”

Coach George O’Leary used the next three weeks to re-introduce his team to training camp.

“It was as good of football as I’ve ever seen on a practice field at that level,” said Bortles. “Everybody was close, tight-knit, fired up, doing everything they could to get ready to go.”

Added Grant: “We had 30 days to prepare and I remember thinking they had no chance of beating us.”

When the team arrived in Arizona, coaches, including late offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe, and players took part in a walkthrough.

“[We] shared a couple of special moments,” said Bortles of Taaffe. “We talked about how cool of a season it had been, the journey we had been on to that point, and how important and cool of an opportunity it was in front of us.”

On game day, the UCF locker room was silent.

“That was typical of us,” Plummer said. “We didn’t talk too much before the game. We’re going to prove it with our actions. We weren’t a rah-rah type of group. We were calm.”

Grant was flagged for a false start on the game’s first play, but the Knights quickly settled down.

“We take the first drive down the field and we ran the ball on every play and scored and I was like, ‘Yeah, this is going work out alright,” said Bortles.

Bortles would be named offensive Most Valuable Player after going 20 of 31 for 301 passing yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He would add 93 rushing yards and a touchdown. Plummer would be named defensive MVP after registering 14 tackles and half a sack.

“I remember the flight home the next day. We get off the plane and see all the fans waiting for us at the facility,” said Colubiale. “It was surreal.”

Honoring the past

Bortles would go on to be drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the third overall pick in 2014. He would play six seasons in the NFL with the Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams before retiring last October.

A photo of him and Taaffe from that Fiesta Bowl wal-through hangs on the wall in his home office.

While the Knights from that team may have moved on with their lives — Plummer plays for the XFL’s Orlando Guardians, Colubiale lives in DeLand with his wife and daughter and Grant owns an online recruiting company — that season isn’t far from their thoughts.

Members of the 2013 team will gather for a dinner in Orlando on Friday night and will be honored during Saturday’s home game against Baylor.

In the decade since that Fiesta Bowl win, UCF has gone 77-41 (66%), claimed three conference titles, earned a spot in back-to-back New Year’s Six Access bowls highlighted by a win over Auburn in the 2017 Peach Bowl to finish undefeated and claimed a national championship. The Knights would win a school-record 25 straight games in 2017-18 and earn a bid to the Big 12 in 2023.

Said Bortles: “To see how quickly it’s grown and what it’s become from Conference USA to the American and now playing in the Big 12, as a former player, it’s cool to know you were a part of it. Now, you can sit back and watch them continue to grow.”

Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on X at @osmattmurschel.