Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games Of The 21st Century: No. 4

Note: We define the 21st Century as Jan. 1, 2001, to the time of this series' publication.

No. 4: Clipping the Cardinals' wings (Louisville, 2013)

The 2013 UCF Knights put the college football world on notice in this primetime road matchup against No. 8 Louisville.

Coming off a win over Florida in the Sugar Bowl the previous season, the Cardinals were still riding high with a passing attack featuring three future NFL players: quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, wide receiver DeVante Parker and wide receiver Eli Rogers. Bridgewater found each receiver for a touchdown a piece to go up 14-7 at the half, one of them capitalizing on a UCF interception.

The Cardinals' momentum continued into the second half, as they picked up a rushing touchdown from running back DeAngelo Brown and another touchdown on a fumble recovery shortly after. Halfway through the third quarter, and the Knights are down three touchdowns.

It was one thing for the Cardiac Knights to emerge against an unranked Penn State or Memphis. It's an entirely different thing when they show up against the No. 8 team in the nation. Following the fumble returned for a touchdown, UCF scored on all of its remaining five drives of the game.

Running back Storm Johnson led the way, leading the team in both rushing (18 carries for 109 yards) and receiving (four catches for 79 yards), whilst getting one touchdown each way on back-to-back drives. His 20-yard receiving pass from quarterback Blake Bortles even came one play after UCF got the ball back, thanks to future NFL safety Clayton Geathers forcing a fumble recovered by defensive back Sean Maag.

Fellow running back William Stanback was not left out either. Despite getting half as many carries as Johnson, he turned it into 65 yards and two touchdowns, one of which was the game-tying touchdown to make it 28 all with 30 seconds left in the third. What was a three-score lead was closed by the end of the third.

Kicker Shawn Moffitt got the Knights ahead for a few minutes, but a 15-yard touchdown run by Brown put the Cardinals up once again with three minutes left. Bortles proceeded to march UCF 75 yards down the field, finding tight end Justin Tukes, wide receiver Josh Reese and wide receiver Jeff Godfrey twice each. Godfrey's second catch was a two-yard touchdown pass that ended up deciding the game.

Bortles finished his night with 21 completions for 250 yards, his final drive helping put an exclamation point on a game that tied for the largest comeback in program history and sent the Knights into the Top 25 for the first time since 2010 and on the path toward a BCS bowl berth (see No. 6).

Catch up on the rest of the list below:

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games of the 21st Century: No. 25

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games Of The 21st Century: No. 24

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games of the 21st Century: No. 23

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games of the 21st Century: No. 22

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games of the 21st Century: No. 21

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games Of The 21st Century: No. 20

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games of the 21st Century: No. 19

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games Of The 21st Century: No. 18

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games Of the 21st Century: No. 17

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games Of the 21st Century: No. 16

Top 25 UCF Knights Football Games Of the 21st Century: No. 15