Any thought that extra rest and preparation would provide an advantage to West Virginia in its quest for a better showing Saturday at Central Florida was simply wishful thinking.
The Mountaineers trailed by 14 points early, and after they got back to within seven at halftime, the Knights ran off 31 unanswered points in the second half to dominate in a 45-13 victory Saturday afternoon at Acrisure Bounce House.
“We stunk in every phase and every way,” WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “I thought we had a good week of practice. I’ve done this a long time. I thought the guys were ready to play. We didn’t do anything well. We looked slow, out of position, missed tackles, didn’t block, had two holding penalties on draw plays and that never should happen. Poorly coached, poorly executed, poorly played, poorly everything. I’m hoping this is bottom. We’re playing young quarterbacks and there are growing pains with that, but that doesn’t explain everything.”
After playing six straight weeks and on a short week before its first bye, Rodriguez was hopeful 15 days between games could be what his team needed for a more competitive showing against Big 12 Conference competition.
Instead, with true freshman Scotty Fox Jr. making his first career start to make it four different starting quarterbacks in as many games for the Mountaineers, WVU punted to end the game’s opening series and then allowed a 97-yard scoring drive that ensured the visitors would play from behind. Tayven Jackson’s 40-yard pass to Chris Domercant on fourth-and-4 went provided the first touchdown and allowed UCF (4-3, 1-3) to lead 7-0.
Fox was brought down well short of a first down on a fourth-and-13 rushing attempt to end WVU’s second series, and seven plays later, the Knights’ had a second fourth down touchdown pass from Jackson to Domercant — this one covering 34 yards on fourth-and-5. It allowed the Knights to lead 14-0 and marked the 10th time in 11 attempts a Big 12 opponent had converted on fourth down against the Mountaineers.
“We missed some tackles, looked slower and weren’t playing as fast maybe as we needed to,” Rodriguez said. “The execution and scheme part we have to look at, but it was not a good effort from any facet.”
After West Virginia’s third series ended with a punt, the Mountaineers stopped UCF tailback Myles Montgomery for no gain on fourth-and-1, and Khalil Wilkins spelled Fox at quarterback to start the team’s fourth possession at the Knights’ 39.
Wilkins broke off successive runs of 16 and 11 yards and another 6-yard run into the end zone to give WVU (2-5, 0-4) its first points.
“Have to give everybody a shot and do it based on what they’ve done in the game, but also what they’ve done in practice,” Rodriguez said. “I have to make a decision based on practice and the two young guys are the only guys that were healthy. Scotty got the first shot based on what practice was like the last two weeks. It’s a lot on them, but it’s a lot more on them when the pieces around them aren’t helping. We have to figure out a way for that to happen. If you have a young quarterback, you can run the ball or you don’t have to get rid of it so quick every time you drop back and that kind of stuff.”
The Mountaineers kept it a one-score game by stopping Montgomery for no gain on fourth-and-1 from the WVU 13, and after each team punted twice, West Virginia regained possession with 1:41 to play in the first half.
WVU was setup to punt again, but Oliver Straw instead kept the snap and took off running for a 12-yard gain on fourth-and-7. Following an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Knights, the Mountaineers were in position to draw closer, but Kade Hensley’s 44-yard field goal attempt missed wide on the final play of the half.
UCF put the contest out of reach within the first 5 minutes of the second half. Just as they did to start the game, the Knights put together a touchdown drive on their first series of the second half, one that featured two third down conversions and was capped by Jaden Nixon’s 12-yard run into the end zone 3:07 into the second half.
On its first second-half series, WVU produced one first down before Khalil was sacked by Nyjalik Kelly, who forced a fumble that teammate Keli Lawson recovered and returned 32 yards for a touchdown.
That score stood until Nixon’s 83-yard touchdown run with 2:02 to play in the third quarter, at which point the Knights held a 35-7 advantage.
“We have to get back to what we’re known for and get our head back in the game after one bad play,” said WVU linebacker Curtis Jones Jr. “One bad play doesn’t define the whole game and our focus should be on turning to the next play.”
Fox replaced a shaken up Wilkins in the third quarter, but it did nothing to ignite a sputtering offense.
Instead, the Knights continued to pour it on and added to their lead in the form of a Noe Ruelas 51-yard field goal and a Davi Belfort 10-yard touchdown run.
Jordan Walker’s interception and subsequent 31-yard return positioned WVU at the Knights’ 1 late in the game and directly led to the Mountaineers’ second touchdown, which Diore Hubbard scored on a 1-yard run to provide the final margin.
Jason Chambers also had an interception in defeat.
Between Fox, Wilkins and wideout Cam Vaughn, the Mountaineers completed 11-of-28 passes for 79 yards.
Wilkins was the team’s leading rusher with 48 yards.
Rich Rodriguez postgame press conference following WVU’s 45-13 loss at UCF: pic.twitter.com/1FYCihiHtD
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) October 18, 2025
WVU was limited to a season-low 210 yards and surrendered a season-high 578 to the Knights.
“We didn’t get the job done,” WVU center Landen Livingston said. “There’s a lot that we need to work on in order to do. It all starts with getting push and we really struggled doing that. When in doubt, we have to really focus on that this upcoming week and got better. The weeks aren’t going to slow down and we have to keep on working.”
Jackson returned to the lineup after being out injured last week against Cincinnati and completed 23-of-34 passes for 267 yards.
Nixon rushed for 116 yards on seven carries and Montgomery added 88 yards on 14 attempts to pace a ground game that churned out 255 yards.
Domercant had five receptions for 89 yards.
The Knights had five touchdown drives of 68 or more yards and three of at least 85 in what marked their first victory over the Mountaineers in the fifth meeting between the teams.
“That was as poorly as I’ve had a team play defensively in a long, long time,” Rodriguez said. “Our guys will do what they can to fix it. Some of it is getting some guys in the right spots and some of it is our guys getting off blocks, keeping contain and not making a mental mistake. That still comes back to us as coaches to where they can be comfortable doing our stuff.”