Central Florida shocks Oklahoma State

Published 11:38 pm Saturday, November 11, 2023

Central Florida quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, left, looks for a receiver as he is pressured by Oklahoma State linebacker Collin Oliver (30) and defensive end Anthony Goodlow (94) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday in Orlando, Fla.

ORLANDO, Fla. — R.J. Harvey had a 92-yard touchdown run and UCF’s defense forced four turnovers to help the Knights rout No. 15 Oklahoma State 45-3 on Saturday.

Harvey rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns to give him over 1,000 yards on the season. He’s run for over 100 yards in five straight games — the first Knights back to do that since Kevin Smith in 2007 — and his 92-yard TD was the second longest run in school history. Harvey had 157 of his yards in the second half.



The UCF defense was stellar with three interceptions and forcing Oklahoma State’s star running back Ollie Gordon to fumble for only the second time this season.

Oklahoma State (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) never could get its ground game going and it stalled out the offense as the Cowboys saw their six-game win streak snapped.

Gordon entered the game leading the nation in rushing yards but tallied only 25 yards on 12 carries for the game. That snapped a streak of six straight 100-yard rushing games for the Cowboys’ back. It was Gordon’s fewest rushing yards in a game since the Sept. 16 loss to South Alabama.

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Without that, Oklahoma State’s offense sputtered to get going and quickly found itself down. Coming off its first Big 12 win, UCF (5-5, 2-5) hit the gas from the start of the game and never let up.

Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee found Xavier Townsend for a 37-yard pass on the game’s opening play. Plumlee finished the game with 299 passing yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard throw to Kobe Hudson in the second quarter to make it a 24-0 lead. Hudson caught all three of Plumlee’s touchdown throws.

Plumlee added 74 rushing yards on 14 carries too.

They entered the game as the fourth-worst rushing defense in the country going up against the best running back in the country. They stepped up holding the Cowboys to 277 total yards and 52 rushing yards. Oklahoma State had minus-6 rush yards at halftime.