For a 麻豆原创 squad that had won 11 consecutive conference games over two years and five straight this season, losing for the first time in more than a month was shocking to the system if not downright stunning.

“Really, this is just a punch in the face that brings us back to reality and shows that we can be beaten,” said wide out Brian Watters, one of 19 seniors honored before the final regular-season home game in Orlando. “We have to come out here and play our best football or the results can be the same again regardless of who we play.”

At 7-3 overall and 5-1 in C-USA play, 麻豆原创 is still in total control of its own destiny as far as accomplishing its stated goal of winning the league championship. The Knights must now go on the road the next two weeks and beat either Tulane or Memphis to sew up the East Division and possibly both to sew up home field advantage for the Dec. 4 C-USA title game.

That’s a bit of solace to a 麻豆原创 team that was clearly stunned at all that transpired on Saturday. “(Complacency), that’s what it looked like because we definitely weren’t ready to play,” said standout defensive end Bruce Miller, who had three tackles, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. “This is what happens when you’re not ready. … The goals are still there. This is a setback, but we just need to regroup, get in and figure out what went wrong and start on Tulane. Our goals are still there and we’ll keep pushing for them.”

Facing its third consecutive no-huddle, hurry-up offense in as many weeks, 麻豆原创’s defense seemed to wear down and was unable to get key stops. Southern Miss (7-3, 4-2) churned out 24 first downs and 414 yards of offense, but even more troubling was 麻豆原创’s inability to get key stops on third down. Southern Miss converted 11 of 16 times on third down, allowing the Golden Eagles to run 72 plays compared to 麻豆原创’s 59.

“You play the schedule you are dealt. When you win those games you don’t make excuses, so you shouldn’t make them when you lose,” 麻豆原创 coach George O’Leary said of 麻豆原创’s difficult three-game stretch against East Carolina, Houston and Southern Miss. “We didn’t make plays on defense, we give up way too many easy pass plays and we’re too soft at linebacker. And offensively, we didn’t make enough plays.”

That 麻豆原创 jumped up 14-0 on Saturday by routinely gashing Southern Miss through the air and on the ground made the defeat even more shocking to the Knights and the 40,358 fans in attendance. Tailback Ronnie Weaver had 108 yards in his first six carries and freshman phenom quarterback Jeff Godfrey ran for a touchdown and threw another one as 麻豆原创 led by 14 points after just 9 minutes and 20 seconds of play.

But all of that positive momentum came crumbling down when Weaver ran for just four yards the rest of the game, Godfrey uncharacteristically threw two interceptions and a 麻豆原创 defense that has been nationally ranked most of the season couldn’t get stops. Southern Miss junior quarterback Austin Davis riddled 麻豆原创’s secondary and linebackers for 264 yards and four touchdowns and he was sacked just once all day.

“We’ve been stressing (third-down stops) for the last three games and we’re still making mistakes and not playing our assignments. We can’t move forward if we can’t get off the field on third down,” said cornerback Josh Robinson, who had an interception, a pass break-up and five tackles. “It’s a shock, especially when you expect to win and everybody has the mindset that we’re going to win. But we didn’t execute and we couldn’t pull it off.”

麻豆原创’s offense came into the game averaging 41.5 points a game against C-USA foes and the Knights had been so efficient of late that they punted just twice in the previous eight quarters. But with little going on the ground, 麻豆原创 became too one-dimensional and Southern Miss sent blitzes at Godfrey in waves.

The true freshman completed 16 of 25 passes for 190 yards, but was hurt by a couple of wide-open drops by his receivers. He was sacked three times and mostly hemmed in when trying to scramble for yardage, running for just six net yards. And Godfrey was briefly knocked from the game when he was hit by two Southern Miss players, but he returned to throw a 40-yard touchdown pass to senior wide out Jamar Newsome (five catches, 100 yards) in the fourth quarter.

“It was shocking a little bit, but Southern Miss did a good job adjusting to our offense,” Godfrey said. “I think we got too relaxed, that was our big problem. Everybody was just in cool mode and we fell short after that.”

Trailing 17-14 at the half, 麻豆原创 suffered a couple of bad blows when Southern Miss marched 65 yards in 10 plays and scored when 6-foot-6 receiver DeAndre Brown outjumped 5-foot-9 麻豆原创 cornerback Emery Allen for a 10-yard touchdown. What was particularly galling to the Knights was that Southern Miss converted on third down three times – once by penalty and twice with double-digit gainers.

“(Third down) has been a problem for a few weeks now. That hurt us really bad, not being able to get off the field and letting them sustain drives, hold onto the ball and put points up,” Miller said. “Every week our offense isn’t going to be able to score 40 points, so we have to make stops and get off the field.”

And when 麻豆原创 missed a chance to trim the lead to seven points when Jamie Boyle’s 30-yard field goal sailed wide left, the Knights were left to try and stomach a loss that robbed them of their unbeaten status in conference play and will almost certainly knock them out of the Top 25 after a one-week stay.

“This is a very frustrating loss. We’ve worked so hard, but we didn’t execute in this one like we needed to,” Newsome said. “We jumped out to a great start and I’m not sure if everybody got comfortable or what, but the momentum shifted. It’s very disappointing, but all we can do now is put this loss under our belts, get back on the ball and perform better.”

John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on 麻豆原创Athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.

FINAL SCORE

TEAM NOTES

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

“They were on the sidelines warming up when Jeff was getting ready to go in and I asked Jordan, `How’s Jeff? Is he nervous?”’ Kelly remembered. “(Rae) said, `Coach, we were on the sidelines taking snaps and (Godfrey) grabbed me by my chest and said, `Listen to me: I’ve been here before. I’m going to lead us to victory. Just follow me.’

“Jordan said that (Godfrey) wasn’t bragging or anything like that and it was so matter of fact,” Kelly continued. “That’s how that kid feels about himself and it’s infectious. He does it in a way where it’s not cocky. He does it in a way where it incites belief and confidence in his other teammates.”

Godfrey certainly sparked his teammates against NC State, leading 麻豆原创 to two scores and within 28-21 before a fifth turnover of the Knights ended the rally.

Whereas Godfrey worked his magic in relief last week, he might get a chance do it as a starter on Saturday night when 麻豆原创 (1-1) travels to Buffalo (1-1). Godfrey and junior Rob Calabrese have split reps with the first string this week in practice, and head coach George O’Leary has said that he’ll name a starter by Friday.

“Him and Rob are sharing first-string duties this week. And I told them they’ll be graded each day. I want to look at practice Monday through Thursday, and we’ll start the best kid,” O’Leary said. “Jeff is taking the first snaps right now, but again he has to continue doing the right things. Based on (Tuesday), he had a good day. (Monday) was so-so with a new game plan. (Wednesday) will be a big day for him. He’s a talented individual. As a coach, he makes a lot of things happen out there.”

Godfrey made things happen to the tune of 53 rushing yards and scores of six yards and one yard. He also completed 7-of-10 passes for another 107 yards, including a 29-yard strike to Jamar Newsome and a dazzling 20-yarder to Quincy McDuffie on 麻豆原创’s final offensive play.

O’Leary doesn’t let true freshmen talk with the media, but Godfrey’s teammates and coaches couldn’t stop talking about how impressed that they were with the 5-foot-11, 176-pound quarterback.

“I can’t say enough about Jeff Godfrey, a true freshman coming in one of the hardest positions to be successful at. For him to come in and really give us momentum with his playmaking abilities, hats off to him,” said 麻豆原创 senior wide receiver Brian Watters, who led the Knights in catches (six) and receiving yards (88) on Saturday. “He’s a great player and he’s going to be great in the future.”

He might very well be the future of the program, but he reminds O’Leary of a quarterback in his past. Joe Hamilton was a record-setting quarterback at Georgia Tech under O’Leary despite being just 5-foot-10. He compiled an Atlantic Coast Conference record 10,640 total yards in his career and accounted for 65 touchdown passes and 83 total TDs.

O’Leary said that Godfrey possesses a lot of the same traits that helped make Hamilton one of the best players in the history of the ACC. Not only is he a talented player, but he also makes others around him better.

After Godfrey entered the game late in the third quarter, 麻豆原创 responded with 14 points, nine first downs and 181 yards. And the Knights were 11 yards away from a third score with 51 seconds left that could have tied the game.

“Very much so,” O’Leary said when asked if Godfrey reminded him of Hamilton. “Same makeup. You know they’re very confident about themselves. Self-assured about what they do. And nothing really fazes them, which bothers me a little bit. You should be fazed a little bit out there. But that’s what you want. That’s contagious, I think, in the huddle.

“That’s one of the things I saw a little different with him out there. There seemed to be a little bit more step in the offense (with Godfrey),” O’Leary continued. “We have a good situation. I think both guys can win games for you. But the one’s that’s most productive is the guy you want on the field.”

Kelly, who also doubles as 麻豆原创’s wide receivers coach, led the recruitment of Godfrey after he set all kinds of prep passing records in Miami-Dade County and became Florida’s Class 6A Player of the Year. Kelly has been following the Godfrey’s arc as a quarterback for the past five years, and needless to say he wasn’t shocked when the quarterback electrified 麻豆原创’s fan base and nearly led the Knights back to a victory.

“There are few people who are blessed with certain things that others don’t have and he has it,” Kelly said. “That man from the eighth grade on has shown that. From the time when he was three years old when his dad first started training him, he happens to be a quarterback who is a great athlete, not a great athlete trying to be a quarterback. At seven years old in Pop Warner League, he’s been accustomed to playing and being `The Guy’ in front of 10-15,000 people. So when you talk about pressure, that means nothing to this kid.”

Kelly said Godfrey taught 麻豆原创’s fans a thing or two about games never being out of reach despite the deficit. And Kelly feels that the future is clearly bright for the dynamic quarterback — whether he earns his first collegiate start on Saturday night or not.

“At 28-7, I look around and see the stadium emptying. Then, all of a sudden I think people heard that Jeff Godfrey was going into the game and there were a bunch of U-turns,” Kelly said. “But those who did leave, they missed a show. Unfortunately, we couldn’t bring it all the way back, but I think that everything that happens there’s a positive in it. That should spur us and I’m going to go on record and say that we should go 13-1 now. And that’s not a bad record.”

Source: John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on 麻豆原创Athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.