What Happened the Last Time the Oklahoma State Cowboys Faced the UCF Knights

The Oklahoma State Cowboys don’t have a long history of playing football against the UCF Knights.

Oklahoma State's Zane Flores. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Oklahoma State Cowboys have been playing college football for 125 years. The UCF Knights? A little less than that.

The Knights debut in 1979 as a Division III program and worked its way up to FBS. They can even claim an FBS national championship, and it’s not a joke. When the Knights went 13-0 in 2017, the Knights won the national title awarded by the Colley Matrix, which is recognized by the NCAA.

The Knights joined the Big 12 in 2023. When they did, they played the Cowboys for the first time. Two years later, the two teams met again. Both meetings have been in Orlando. Oklahoma State has lost both meetings.

OSU and UCF meet on Oct. 10. Here is how the last meeting went.

Oklahoma State’s Last Meeting with UCF

UCF Knights head coach Scott Frost. | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

The Cowboys’ season was already off the rails when they went to Orlando to face UCF on Nov. 22 of last year. Oklahoma State had already fired Mike Gundy, installed Doug Meachem as interim coach and momentum as already working behind the scenes to bring then-North Texas head coach Eric Morris to Stillwater.

UCF was struggling under Scott Frost, who led that 2017 undefeated team, left for Nebraska, his alma mater and returned to re-assume the program before the season. The Knights needed wins in their last two games to get to a bowl game.

The Cowboys and the Knights put together a compelling game. The Cowboys took a 14-0 lead at halftime, thanks to some of their most effective offense of the season. Quarterback Zane Flores connected with Gavin Freeman for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 8:06 left in the first quarter to cap a 13-play, 75-yard drive. In the second quarter, Flores ran in from six yards out.

But the Cowboys couldn’t hang onto the lead. The Knights rallied for 17 second-half points to claim the victory.

Quarterback Tayven Jackson and wide receiver Dylan Wade torched the Cowboys’ secondary for an 83-yard touchdown pass in the first minute of the third quarter. Then, in the fourth, the pair connected again, this time from two yards out, to tie the game.

The Knights won the game with 57 seconds left as Noe Ruelas kicked a 34-yard field goal to break the tie.

Jackson threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw two interceptions. Wade caught four passes for 145 yards and two scores. Flores threw for 124 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed for nine yards and the touchdown. Freeman caught five passes for 40 yards. Cam Smith and Ladainian Fields had the interceptions for OSU.