Saturday puts two teams who are in need of a win against each other in Orlando. The Mountaineers head to the Sunshine State to face the Knights of UCF.
The Knights enter their eighth game of the season with nearly every surrounding factor against them. They are on a four game losing streak, they are winless in Big 12 conference games, and they have never defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Despite this being the first season as members of the same conference, the Knights and Mountaineers have played twice before, as the schools faced off two seasons in a row in 2003 and 2004. WVU won both matchups.
The 2003 game was one full of thirds. Coming off a victory over third-ranked Virginia Tech, the Mountaineers sought their third win of a winning streak against UCF, who had just gained their third and final win of the 2003 season.
The Mountaineers doubled the Knights’ score to win their homecoming game 36-18. The following season, the Mountaineers traveled to Orlando to give a very similar treatment.
As the 10th ranked team in the AP’s top 25 poll, WVU gave UCF their second loss of what would eventually be an 0-11 season. The Mountaineers won the game 45-20 on the way to an 8-4 season with a Gator Bowl loss to Florida State.
As stated before, though, while UCF may not like their history against the Mountaineers, they are likely more concerned about their recent struggles. The Knights opened the season 3-0 with solid victories over Kent State (56-6), Boise State (18-16), and Villanova (48-14).
These victories, however, remain the only ones of the Knights’ season, as they remain one of two Big 12 teams winless in conference play alongside Cincinnati.
The losses include a 36-35 loss to Baylor, where the Bears held a 26-0 advantage in the fourth quarter to guide the comeback, as well as last weekend’s 31-29 finish against undefeated Oklahoma, who held a 14-6 advantage in the fourth quarter.
Even further, UCF lacked a consistent squad for the majority of the season up to this point. Senior quarterback John Rhys Plumlee struggled with a knee injury for about half of UCF’s games before making his first full return against Oklahoma.
Plumlee stands as an essential figure for the Knights’ winning aspirations and for the school as a whole. This anticipated final season of his college career is the second that Plumlee represents UCF, both on the football field and baseball diamond.
Before UCF, Plumlee played exclusively for the University of Mississippi in both football and baseball. The fifth year senior played three seasons with Ole Miss after briefly committing to Georgia in his senior year of high school.
Plumlee transferred to UCF last season to play for both the football team and baseball team, but he only played for one, as the NCAA denied his waiver request to play baseball after the transfer.
After the transfer, Plumlee quickly made an impact for UCF, as he tied the school’s touchdown record with seven in a 70-13 win over Temple en route to a 9-5 season that included an AAC Championship Game appearance.
Now, returning from injury, UCF will need Plumlee to lead them once again to winning ways if they want to become bowl eligible. It all begins Saturday in their noon home game as they look for their first victory against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
