Bianchi: UCF loses to Pitt, but QB Alonza Barnett’s injury scare is the real nightmare
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Seriously?
Again?
Another UCF quarterback. Another injury. Another season suddenly surrounded by uncertainty.
At this point, maybe the Knights should stop assigning jersey numbers to their quarterbacks and start handing out hospital bracelets.
Just one week ago, I wrote that Alonza Barnett III needed to be the quarterback who finally ended UCF’s seemingly never-ending quarterback curse.
And then Saturday night happened.
Of course it did.
On UCF’s next-to-last offensive play in a miserable, rain-soaked 12-7 loss to Pittsburgh, Barnett scrambled for 2 yards, pulled up lame and immediately grabbed the back of his leg.
There are moments when an entire fan base collectively groans.
This was one of them.
Backup Keyone Jenkins came in for UCF’s final offensive play, was sacked on fourth down and that was that.
Game over.
And now everybody in Knight Nation waits.
Scott Frost said afterward that hopefully Barnett was merely cramping.
Hopefully.
Let’s hope that’s all it was. Let’s hope Barnett wakes up Sunday morning feeling fine and this entire column becomes an overreaction to one frightening moment in a monsoon.
But if you’re a UCF fan, how can you possibly assume the best anymore? This is UCF’s version of Groundhog Day, except instead of Bill Murray waking up to Sonny and Cher singing, “I Got You Babe,” the alarm clock goes off every morning with an athletic trainer saying, “We’ll know more after the MRI.”
Dillon Gabriel suffers a broken collarbone three games into 2021. Mikey Keene replaces him and eventually transfers. John Rhys Plumlee shows flashes of becoming a terrific UCF quarterback but always seems to be limping, hobbling or recovering from something. Dylan Rizk. Timmy McClain. Jacurri Brown. EJ Colson. KJ Jefferson. Cam Fancher. Tayven Jackson. The revolving door at quarterback has spun so fast it’s now generating electricity for the Bounce House.
The frustrating part is Barnett was trying desperately to save UCF from a game the Knights had spent most of the night trying to lose. I’m not much on moral victories, but I’ll give UCF this: The Knights kept fighting.
The game was delayed 65 minutes by lightning. Rain poured down throughout the night. UCF trailed 12-0 at halftime and looked offensively hopeless for most of the evening.
And somehow Barnett and the Knights were still alive at the end. Barnett finally found Waden Charles for a touchdown with 2:51 remaining, pulling UCF within 12-7. After getting the ball back, Barnett was trying to lead an improbable game-winning drive when his leg betrayed him.
Or cramped.
Or whatever happened.
UCF can only pray it’s the latter.
Because this offense has enough problems even with Barnett healthy. Let’s start with this one:
How does a Scott Frost team go on the road in a torrential downpour and become completely incapable of running the football? UCF rushed for 360 yards and seven touchdowns in a 73-6 demolition of Bethune-Cookman in the opener.
Against Pitt?
Practically nothing.
UCF had –1 rushing yards in the first half and finished with one of the worst rushing performances in program history. And the running backs carried the football only eight times.
Eight!
In a monsoon!
It seems obvious that UCF has serious offensive line problems.
“We’ve got to establish more of a run game than that,” Frost said.
You can blame the rain for some of UCF’s offensive ineptitude. You can blame the slick football, the sloppy field and the miserable conditions. You can even blame Frost’s soggy play sheet.
Frost acknowledged afterward that his play sheet got wet and contributed to him calling the wrong play on the sequence that resulted in Pitt’s safety. That’s almost too perfect.
Only UCF could go on the road, get caught in a biblical rainstorm and have its head coach’s play sheet turn into papier-mâché while his quarterback gets called for intentional grounding in the end zone.
But eventually excuses become explanations, and explanations become a pattern. Here’s the pattern that should bother UCF fans even more than the rain:
The Knights have now lost 10 consecutive road games.
Ten.
Tough football teams go on the road and impose their will. UCF goes on the road and loses its way.
Some teams are road warriors.
The Knights have become road worriers.
And that has to change if Frost is serious about rebuilding UCF into a legitimate Big 12 program. Forget the weather. Forget the soggy play sheet. Forget that UCF was coming off a 67-point victory against an overmatched FCS opponent.
Saturday night was the first real test of Frost’s second season back at UCF. And his team got outmuscled.
That’s the part that should concern him most. UCF had two first downs in the first half. The Knights couldn’t run the football. They couldn’t consistently protect Barnett. They couldn’t make the critical plays that win ugly games on the road.
Pitt did.
UCF didn’t.
That was the difference.
Barnett slightly overthrew Dylan Wade on a pass that could have become a touchdown in the first half. Jayden Bellamy dropped what looked like a sure pick-6.
“Those are plays that, when you’re in a close game, are going to matter,” Frost said.
In other words, opportunities were there.
UCF simply didn’t take them.
However, let’s give UCF’s defense plenty of credit.
Pitt quarterback Mason Heintschel entered the game as the only quarterback since Joe Burrow to throw for seven touchdown passes and more than 450 yards in a 59-14 victory over Miami of Ohio. Against UCF, he didn’t throw a single touchdown pass. The Knights defense gave the offense chance after chance. The offense gave almost nothing back.
That’s why this loss stings.
UCF didn’t get blown out.
UCF didn’t get embarrassed on the scoreboard.
UCF simply wasted a winnable game.
And just when Barnett appeared ready to give the Knights one final chance to steal it, he pulled up clutching his leg.
Seriously?
Again?
Maybe Barnett will be fine.
Maybe it really was just a cramp.
Maybe he’ll be back at practice this week and everybody will laugh about the latest chapter of the mythical UCF quarterback curse.
Knights fans certainly deserve that ending. Because they’ve seen enough of the other one.
They’ve seen quarterbacks get injured. They’ve seen quarterbacks transfer. They’ve seen heralded quarterbacks arrive and disappoint.
Last week, after Barnett calmly directed Frost’s offense in that 73-6 demolition of Bethune-Cookman, it seemed fair to ask whether UCF had finally found the right guy.
One week later, Barnett was limping off a rain-soaked field in Pittsburgh.
And suddenly the narrative has changed.
Not again.
Please.
Not again.
Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on social media @BianchiWrites and listen to my radio show “Game On” every weekday from 3 to 6 p.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen.
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