UCF outlasts No. 2 BYU in 2OT, notches first top-5 win in program history: 'That's the weirdest end of a game I've ever seen'

UCF wide receiver Tyren Hornes bounced in the Bounce House on Saturday in Orlando. The freshman ricocheted after a hit from BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker.

After maintaining his balance, Hornes flew down the sideline for a pickup of 56 yards on a third-and-17 that began with him catching a screen pass. The Knights capped that third-quarter drive with a Keyone Jenkins QB sneak that secured a go-ahead touchdown.

It turns out they needed to score one more of those in what proved to be an ethereal conclusion to a matchup that ebbed and flowed more than the mercurial, rainy Florida weather.

Yet No. 2 BYU never brought UCF back down to Earth. Following an end-of-regulation sequence that featured a string of headache-inducing officiating descriptions and a blocked field goal — and then two frames of overtime — the Knights planted an astronomical 39-31 victory in their record book via a fourth-down stop near the goal line.

It's UCF's first-ever win over an AP top-five opponent. The Knights had lost their previous six games in that type of contest.

"Proud of our kids. I'm happy for UCF," said head coach Scott Frost, who is in his second stint leading a program he memorably led to a 13-0 record in 2017.

Frost then added during that on-field postgame interview : "That's the weirdest end of a game I've ever seen."

UCF (4-3, 2-2 Big 12) pulled off the upset of BYU (6-1, 3-1) on a day when another conference titan also fell, with No. 8 Texas Tech losing to unranked Cincinnati earlier on .

The Cougars' defeat comes one week after they knocked off then-No. 2 Notre Dame in game that had its own controversy and that resulted in BYU being ranked inside the top two of the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1984 .

BYU scored on its first series of Saturday's matchup. Quarterback Bear Bachmeier — who caught a touchdown, ran for two more and threw for the game-winning score a week earlier against Notre Dame — tossed a 27-yard TD pass to wideout Kyler Kasper over the middle.

Soon enough, though, the back-and-forth started.

UCF evened things up early in the second quarter when running back Landen Chambers found pay dirt from 2 yards out.

A drop from wide receiver Waden Charles cost the Knights a touchdown on their next drive, but they still came away with a field goal to take a 10-7 lead.

A Bachmeier keeper restored the BYU advantage later on; however, eventually, a deflection-turned-interception set the stage for a UCF touchdown that put Frost's squad up 17-14 heading into halftime. Jenkins, a senior starting his fifth straight game in place of an injured Alonza Barnett III, located Chambers in the flat for a 6-yard score, triggering a paroxysm of excitement .

BYU came out of the break and hopped back into the driver's seat. A 27-yard run from running back Preston Rex that stemmed from an option pitch slingshotted a touchdown drive that saw Bachmeier and Kasper connect on fourth-and-4. Ultimately, running back Sione Moa burrowed in for a 1-yard score.

The Hornes-inspired TD drive swung the pendulum again.

A 47-yard BYU field goal knotted the game at 24 points apiece. As the fourth quarter wore on, UCF nearly took the lead on a 12-play drive that was halted inches short of the end zone by a persistent Cougars goal-line stand.

BYU took over from its own 1-yard line with a bit more than a minute and a half remaining in regulation. Rather than operating with a sense of urgency, Kalani Sitake's team took its time and wound up punting after three run plays.

With that, UCF got another opportunity at a game-winning drive. A 21-yard catch and run by Chambers thrust the Knights into field-goal territory. Frost kept his offense on the field. It looked like the decision might backfire when BYU hit Jenkins.

Fortunately for the Knights, Jenkins got the ball out before he was sacked. Intentional grounding wasn't assessed. Originally, the ruling on the field was a fumble that BYU recovered , except that call was overturned, whereas an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Cougars that play still applied.

In turn, UCF vaulted ahead to the BYU 28-yard line. From there, its potential game-winning 46-yard field goal was blocked.

It looked as though the Knights might get one more shot nevertheless, as the kick occurred on third down and their kicker, Will Stone, recovered the loose ball. But because Stone's helmet came off on the play, a 10-second runoff was triggered, and UCF didn't have a timeout to stop it.

There was also a question of whether there should have been a facemask penalty on the play and how that would have affected the situation.

Longtime rules analyst Terry McAulay chimed in on social media that there shouldn't have actually been a 10-second runoff.

"The clock stopping for the helmet off was not the only reason it stopped," McAulay wrote on X . "It also stopped because it was the end of a legal kick down."

McAulay pointed to the rule book , which states that a 10-second runoff is among the conditions that follow if the helmet coming off is the only reason for stopping the clock (other than due to an injury to the player or their teammate).

The thrills continued into OT, only they shifted back to centering around jaw-dropping plays, not head-turning reviews.

On third-and-13 in the first overtime period, Bachmeier hooked up with wideout Legend Glasker for a 28-yard touchdown. On UCF's first play of OT, Jenkins evaded a sack, bought time and fired a 25-yard TD strike to wide receiver Josh Derry.

In the second overtime period, a roughing the kicker flag on BYU extended a Knights series that was going to end in three points. They ended up scoring eight.

Jenkins, who finished with 293 yards and three touchdowns on 25-of-41 passing, hit tight end Grayson Brousseau for the go-ahead score . Hornes then dove for a catch that converted the necessary 2-point attempt.

Hornes clocked out with six catches and 137 receiving yards in a win that UCF sealed on defense. Bachmeier's fourth-and-goal pass fell incomplete, and Knights faithful bounced — up and down, in complete euphoria.