With bowl bids looming, Big 12 foes UCF and West Virginia meet to shore up their postseason chances on Saturday in Morgantown, W.Va.
More pressure exists for UCF (4-6, 2-5), which is on its fourth starting quarterback of the season. Coach Gus Malzahn has shuffled from KJ Jefferson, who started the first five games, to EJ Colson, then Jacurri Brown, who lost the job after throwing four interceptions in losses against BYU and Iowa State.
Malzahn has placed the ball in the hands of Dylan Rizk, a Florida native who completed 44 of 59 passes for 523 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in a 35-31 loss at Arizona State and a 56-12 home win over Arizona.
The latter is UCF’s only win in the past seven outings.
The Knights’ offense revolves around the run game, starting with RJ Harvey, the leading rusher in the Big 12. He has amassed 1,328 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven 100-yard games.
To achieve bowl eligibility, the Knights roll out of the bye week in a must-win matchup at West Virginia, then also win their home finale against struggling Utah.
“We’re focused on this game, not the next game,” Malzahn said Monday. “(We’re) going to a tough place to play, there’s no doubt about it. They’re a team that’s similar to us that got after us pretty good last year.”
The Mountaineers (5-5, 4-3) beat UCF 41-28 in Orlando last season.
In that win, quarterback Garrett Greene rushed for three scores and completed 14 of 23 pass attempts for 156 yards.
This season, the senior from Florida has passed for 1,589 yards with 11 TDs and nine interceptions and rushed for 600 yards and five scores.
West Virginia enters the matchup on a down note, losing 49-35 at home to Baylor last Saturday.
Due to proximity, Mountaineers coach Neal Brown knows Malzahn well from their days coaching in Alabama, when Brown led Troy and Malzahn walked the sidelines at Auburn.
“Coach Malzahn wants to run the football,” Brown said Monday. “They’re one of the top rushing offenses in the country. It starts with their running back, Harvey. He was really good last year, (but) he’s elite this year. Tough to tackle, makes people miss and has a great feel for their zone schemes that they’re running.”
West Virginia needs to win either against UCF or at Texas Tech in the finale on Nov. 30 to become bowl eligible.
