UCF football: 3 takeaways from near-upset vs. Cincinnati in Week 12

1. Cincinnati doesn’t mind adversity

So far, this season has mostly been a cakewalk for Cincinnati. Yes, Army slowed their offense down for a while, and Memphis was a great win given what happened last season, but those weren’t particularly difficult games in the end.

In fact, they hadn’t played a game closer than two touchdowns all season long. Add in a road environment, which even in a pandemic adjusted season they’ve only seen once before Saturday, and the Bearcats finally faced true adversity against UCF.

They didn’t seem to mind.

Cincinnati adjusted on the fly defensively, which limited UCF’s scoring.

Meanwhile, they offense stayed confident and stuck with the game plan. It ended up working, and the Bearcats managed to consistently move the ball on a UCF defense that started the game dominating Cincinnati at the line of scrimmage. When UCF took a second half lead, or when the Knights brought in within three late, Cincinnati didn’t flinch. Instead, they recollected themselves and punched back at UCF, harder than the Knights could handle.

This was so important to prove going forward, because whether it is in the College Football Playoff or the New Year’s Six or even the AAC Championship Game, the Bearcats need to be ready for adversity.

This was a huge test passed by Cincinnati.