UCF pulls away from rival Houston, earns 8th straight bowl appearance | 3 takeaways

ORLANDO — For the eighth year running, and for the first time as a member of the Big 12, UCF will go bowling.

John Rhys Plumlee accounted for 308 yards of total offense with a pair of touchdowns, RJ Harvey scored twice after halftime and the Knights clamped down on visiting Houston for a 27-13 victory in their regular-season finale.

UCF capped its debut Power Five campaign with a 6-6 overall record, and a 3-6 mark inside Big 12 play. The Knights are the only one of the conference's four newcomers to achieve bowl eligibility.

The Knights started life in the Big 12 with five straight defeats, but closed with three wins in their final four outings.

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"It says all about our leaders and our players," UCF coach Gus Malzahn said. "What keeps it together is that leadership and that closeness in that group. They deserve all the credit for getting us to this point, for giving us a chance.

"A lot of teams would have folded the tent. They would have had guys that went in the portal and already left, a lot of dissention. The new age of college football is a challenge when things go down the wrong way. Hats off to our players."

UCF improves to 8-3 all-time against Houston (4-8, 2-7), head-to-head meetings that span three conferences — Conference USA, the American Athletic Conference and the Big 12. The Knights limited the Cougars to 95 yards on the ground, and a 1-of-10 conversion rate on third down.

Walter Yates III collected a team-high 12 tackles for UCF, Jason Johnson had two of the team's four sacks and Corey Thornton snagged a sideline interception to disrupt a promising Cougars drive before halftime.

Here are three takeaways from UCF's Thanksgiving weekend triumph.

UCF responds to early Houston TD drive, missed opportunities

Houston efficiently marched 75 yards in eight plays to take a 7-0 lead less than five minutes in when Stephon Johnson Jr. scored on a 16-yard jet sweep. And UCF suddenly put itself up against the wall on its first possession after officials ruled Johnny Richardson down at the 6-yard line upon fielding the ensuing kickoff.

But the Knights changed the early uneasy mood with a mammoth 13-play, 94-yard drive, capped by Plumlee's 8-yard keeper. UCF claimed the lead for the first time at the 10:58 mark of the second quarter when Xavier Townsend slipped three tackles for a 28-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-4.

Still, UCF left at least six points out there before halftime. Colton Boomer pushed a 42-yard field goal attempt wide right, and had a 27-yard kick blocked on the final snap before the break. Malzahn stuck with the sophomore kicker despite admitting having a conversation with his assistants.

Plumlee and the offense went right back to work out of the locker room. He connected with Javon Baker for a 57-yard catch-and-run, the longest play from scrimmage, and Harvey cruised for a 21-yard TD run two plays later. Within 54 seconds, the Knights established a two-score advantage.

"We saw that if they were going to be in 2 Mike, we were going to try and get Javon over the middle before he got to the Mike (line)backer," Plumlee said. "Sure enough, you can't draw it up any better. That's exactly what we wanted. We got the ball to Javon, and obviously just let him do the rest.

"I might have given him crap because he didn't get in the end zone, of course. But that's my job to do that."

RJ Harvey runs wild again, will evaluate UCF future soon

Harvey put up more monster numbers Saturday, finishing off what has been a dominant second half of his redshirt senior season.

The Orlando native surpassed the 100-yard mark for the sixth time in seven games, and produced his fourth consecutive multi-touchdown performance. Harvey had the Knights' final score of the afternoon, a 1-yard plunge midway through the third.

That gives Harvey 16 rushing touchdowns, tying former teammate Isaiah Bowser for second-most in a single season in UCF history. Kevin Smith holds the record with 29 scores during his memorable 2007 season.

After the game, Harvey left the door open on all future possibilities. He still has another year of eligibility, be it with the Knights or another team once the NCAA's transfer portal opens on Dec. 4, and there is a chance he could declare for the NFL draft.

For the year, Harvey has 1,296 rushing yards on 211 attempts, and 17 receptions for 231 yards and an additional score.

"Right now, I'm not sure what I am going to do," Harvey said. "I've got to talk to my family and the coaches and see what's best for me. I'm going to take it day by day and see what happens."

Five UCF running backs have been selected in the NFL draft, most recently Storm Johnson by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the seventh round in 2014.

Gus Malzahn: 'I'm gonna be the coach here'

Publicly addressing the swirling of coaching rumors for the first time this fall, Malzahn reaffirmed his commitment to UCF during his post-game press conference.

"I'm gonna be the coach here," Malzahn said. "I love it here. Obviously, we had ups and downs but this future's bright in this place. Everybody knows it with the way we're recruiting.

"There's great things ahead. We had some growing pains this year, but that's behind us. You learn from it, but I am real excited about the future."

Malzahn signed a contract extension through 2027 during the summer, a transaction that was announced Oct. 5 — in the immediate aftermath of the Knights' 28-point collapse to Baylor. The university bumped his salary to $4 million per year as of July 1, and the figure is due to rise again to $5.5 million during the last two seasons of his contract, ESPN's Pete Thamel first reported.

However, Malzahn was suggested as a potential replacement for Sam Pittman had Arkansas chosen to make a coaching change. The 58-year-old spent two seasons at Arkansas (1984-85) as a walk-on receiver and served as the Razorbacks' offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach in 2006.

But Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek stated last weekend that Pittman would be retained for 2024. The Razorbacks went 4-8 this season, Pittman's fourth in charge.

The Clarion-Ledger listed Malzahn as a potential candidate for the vacancy at Mississippi State, where Zach Arnett was fired in the middle of his first season after taking over for the late Mike Leach. Malzahn coached eight seasons in the SEC West at Auburn, compiling a 68-35 record and taking the Tigers to the BCS National Championship game in 2013.

Texas A&M, Syracuse, Oregon State, Boise State and San Diego State are all undergoing coaching searches as well. Michigan State announced the hiring of Jonathan Smith, formerly of Oregon State, as its coach Saturday.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football: Knights beat Houston in Big 12 finale | 3 takeaways