The road ahead: Title hopes fade

When UCF players left the field Thursday night, their faces said it all.

A group of loyal fans gathered at the rail above the entrance to the Knights' locker room at Bright House Networks Stadium after the game, shouting mostly encouraging terms as the team trudged off the field.

But the dejected looks spoke volumes.

UCF (4-5, 2-3) had lost 24-17 to Tulsa (6-3, 5-0), its fifth loss in seven games, and the body language conveyed what could have been guessed: The Knights had let themselves and their fans down.

A season that started with the highest expectations is now on the worst kind of life support, and a team that has talked about being mentally tough has no choice but to do so as it continues through the season's roughest three-game stretch.

"We've got a lot of football to play and still a lot to look forward to, as far as the season is concerned," running back Ronnie Weaver said. "Southern Miss is definitely going to be a good opponent."

Thursday's loss was different from all of the others this season.

The Knights had pretty much given away two games against FIU and BYU. They were blown out by SMU. Then they played down to, and even below, the level competition in a loss to then-winless UAB.

But Thursday, for the most part, UCF executed its game plan.

In most regards, they played well against a team whose only three losses have come against Top-10 opponents.

Sure, there were the massive penalty yards (64), an inability to bring down Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne (92 rushing yards) and not being able to convert on first-and-goal from the five late in the game.

But this was a case of two good teams playing a closely contested game, and someone had to lose.

The Knights were that team, and maybe that's why this loss may hurt even more than the others.

"It's tough, it's really tough. … We were so close," center Jordan Rae said.

Looking forward, the road ahead is bleak.

Barring something unlikely, UCF likely won't catch East-leading No. 25 Southern Miss (8-1, 4-1), sitting pretty in conference play at 4-1.

The Knights' hopes of repeating as Conference USA champs are faint, but that's not even the pressing issue at the moment.

At 4-5 with three games to go, UCF needs to win two of those games to even be bowl eligible. A team that had such high hopes of raising the program's profile is now somewhat of a long shot to play beyond November.

"We just work hard towards our goal," cornerback Josh Robinson said. "We still want to be conference champs. I'm not sure if that can happen, but we can work towards it. You always keep fighting regardless of what happens."

The Knights' struggles on the road are well documented; they haven't won any of their road games.

Now, they have no choice but to overcome those demons, with their first chance being against a very good Southern Miss team in Hattiesburg, Miss.

After that, UCF will travel to East Carolina to face the Pirates (4-5, 3-2), a team that has always given the Knights problems in front of a fan base that hates all things UCF. After that, UCF will finish up against a subpar UTEP (4-5, 1-4) team at home, though it may be too late by then.

Assuming they don't factor into the East-division race, the Knights' bowl prospects, should they become eligible, would favor an appearance at the nearby Beef ‘O' Brady's Bowl in St. Petersburg. That bowl bid would likely be against a future in-conference Big East-foe.

That hope for at least a bowl appearance, paired with a desire to make a statement by knocking off a ranked Southern Miss squad at home, will have to serve as the Knights' motivation going forward.

"We still have the chance to make it to a bowl game. … We got to come out and execute," Rae said. "ECU, Southern Miss, you know, they're good teams. … UTEP … We've got to come out and play hard. We can't take [anything] for granted."

These aren't the achievements UCF had in mind at the season's outset, though, as the Knights find themselves in a hole they never imagined they'd have to dig themselves out of.

"I never thought we'd be in this position," quarterback Jeff Godfrey said. "But like I tell the guys every day: just keep pushing. The season's not over with, just got to keep playing."