LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Caden Piening reeled in a 6-yard reception with three seconds left on the clock to lift UCF over Kansas 33-32 on Saturday.
A 10-play, 73-yard drive took the Knights to the 6-yard line in just under one minute of clock, and Alonza Barnett III found Piening at the left pylon for the score. After a replay review, the call on the field was upheld, ending a 12-game road losing streak for UCF.
The Knights (5-4, 3-3 Big 12) built up a 19 point lead early in the third quarter, but Kansas chipped away and eventually took the lead at the 1:06 mark after 25 unanswered points.
Prior to the final drive, Kansas (3-6, 1-5 Big 12) pieced together a pair of lengthy touchdown drives to take the lead, scoring on a 30-yard run by quarterback Isaiah Marshall and a 2-yard run by Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman.
Kansas punted on its first possession, but got the ball right back on UCF’s first play from scrimmage with an interception and return to the 3-yard line. Marshall punched it in from 1 yard out to give the Jayhawks an early lead.
UCF marched down the field on the next possession and reached the Kansas 19-yard line, but settled for a field goal.
A risky call on fourth-and-1 paid off in the second quarter when Duane Thomas Jr. gave the Knights the lead with a 10-yard rush. They added another field goal on an 11-play drive to take a 12-7 lead into the locker room, holding the Jayhawks to just 61 yards of total offense in the half.
UCF burst out of the locker room with a pair of commanding touchdown drives, capping the first with a 1-yard run by Taevion Swint and the second with a 44-yard grab by Josh Derry, who finished with a game-high 143 receiving yards.
Up next
UCF: hosts Arizona State next Saturday.
Kansas: faces West Virginia in Morgantown next Saturday.