UCF Falls to Baylor 41-9 as Lagway Throws Four Touchdowns

A Lopsided Affair at Home

The UCF Knights entered Friday’s contest at Acrisure Bounce House in Orlando, Florida, hoping to secure a victory against the visiting Baylor Bears. Instead, they watched their offense stall repeatedly while Baylor’s defense stifled every attempt to gain momentum.

The final tally stood at 41-9 in favor of the Bears, leaving the home crowd of 45,906 with little to celebrate as UCF improved to a 4-4 record and Baylor moved to 5-3.

Lagway’s Dominant Performance

Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway was the architect of the offensive explosion, completing 16 of 25 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns. His connection with receiver Tony Livingston opened the scoring in the first quarter. Livingston caught a 4-yard pass from Lagway, and Rhett Armstrong’s kick pushed the score to 7-0 early on.

Lagway continued to find his targets throughout the afternoon. In the third quarter, he connected with Livingston again on a 21-yard strike and then threw a massive 77-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Freeman. Freeman finished the night with five receptions for 114 yards and one score.

Lagway’s final touchdown came in the fourth quarter when he found Matthew Klopfenstein on a 5-yard pass, sealing the blowout.

UCF’s Limited Offensive Output

For the Knights, the offense struggled to sustain drives against Baylor’s defensive front. Alonza Barnett III took snaps under center, finishing with 8 completions out of 16 attempts for 133 passing yards. While he attempted to keep the team competitive, the ground game offered little help.

Rocco Marriott carried the ball twice for a respectable 50 yards, but it was not enough to change the trajectory of the game.

On the receiving end, Josh Derry was UCF’s primary target, hauling in three passes for 70 yards. However, without consistent scoring drives, those yardages did not translate into points until the second quarter ended.

Scoring Breakdown and Field Goals

UCF managed to put points on the board through kicker Will Stone. In the second period, Stone nailed a 39-yard field goal to make it 14-3. He added a 57-yarder before halftime to bring the score to 20-6 at the break.

Baylor’s Rhett Armstrong also contributed via the ground game, rushing for 82 yards on 11 carries, while his kicking partner kicked three field goals in the second quarter, including a 45-yard and a 29-yarder, to build a significant lead.

In the third quarter, Stone hit a 35-yard field goal to make it 34-9. Baylor answered immediately with Lagway’s touchdown pass to Klopfenstein. The final score of 41-9 reflected a complete mismatch on both sides of the ball, with UCF unable to generate any late-game momentum as the clock wound down.

Sources

ESPN