Arizona State flies in the same day and beats UCF 26-13 after FAA ground stop delays kickoff

Arizona State left Tempe on Saturday morning, landed in Orlando after noon and beat UCF 26-13 that evening at Acrisure Bounce House. Cardae Mack ran for 111 yards and a touchdown and kicker Carson Smith made four field goals as the Sun Devils controlled a game that had been pushed back two hours because of Friday's nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stop.

The loss dropped UCF to 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the Big 12, leaving coach Scott Frost's Knights one win short of bowl eligibility with two games to play. Arizona State improved to 6-4 and 4-3 in conference play, clinching bowl eligibility. UCF had been a 3.5-point favorite, according to the betting line listed by ESPN.

A kickoff moved by the ground stop

The game was originally scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The FAA grounded flights across the country for several hours Friday, disrupting team travel throughout college football, and the Big 12 said it would monitor the situation. "The Conference will continue to monitor travel disruptions and assess whether a later kickoff time is necessary," the league said in a release reported by WKMG News 6.

Late Friday, the Big 12, UCF and Arizona State moved kickoff to 5:30 p.m. on ESPNU, according to UCF athletics. Rather than fly in a day early, Arizona State held a 6 a.m. MST team meeting in Tempe on Saturday, flew to Orlando and reached the stadium a few hours after landing, according to The Associated Press. Same-day travel is rare for major college programs. Elsewhere, the SEC moved Ole Miss's game at Oklahoma to Sunday. The AP counted five other college teams that traveled and played on Saturday, and they went a combined 1-4.

"There are no excuses," Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said, according to the AP. "Just spot the ball and play your best football game, and our guys responded. I'm so proud of those guys."

How the game unfolded

UCF's defense stopped Arizona State on its opening possession, the ninth time in 10 games this season the Knights have kept an opponent from scoring on its first drive, according to UCF athletics. The first quarter ended scoreless.

Arizona State broke through early in the second quarter, when Marquis Gillis finished a 10-play, 74-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. UCF answered with a long drive of its own, but Will Stone's 34-yard field goal attempt went wide left. Smith then hit from 51 yards for a 10-0 Arizona State lead with 4:18 left in the half.

Quarterback Alonza Barnett III found Josh Derry for 46 yards to set up Landen Chambers' 2-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to 10-7 with 1:53 left before halftime. The final two minutes of the half swung the game. Smith made a 41-yard field goal with 43 seconds left. On UCF's next play, Barnett lost 8 yards and fumbled at the UCF 19, and Arizona State's Albert Smith III recovered. Four plays later, Carson Smith kicked a 28-yarder with 16 seconds remaining for a 16-7 halftime lead.

Neither team scored in the third quarter. Arizona State then put together a 14-play, 81-yard drive that took 7:16, and Mack capped it with an 8-yard touchdown run 1:21 into the fourth quarter for a 23-7 lead. UCF's next possession ended when Martell Hughes sacked Barnett on fourth down. Smith's 37-yard field goal made it 26-7 with 6:02 to play.

UCF drove inside the Arizona State 20 on its following series but turned the ball over on downs. Barnett threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Tyren Hornes with 2:12 left, but the two-point try failed and Arizona State recovered the onside kick.

By the numbers

Arizona State held the ball for more than 37 minutes and kept UCF's running game in check.

Mack carried 25 times. Quarterback Jake Fette completed 21 of 36 passes for 196 yards, and Reed Harris caught seven passes for 80 yards. Smith made all four field goal tries and accounted for 14 points. Hughes finished with eight tackles and a sack.

For UCF, Barnett completed 21 of 30 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown but was sacked several times and finished with minus-23 rushing yards. Derry caught seven passes for 137 yards in ESPN's box score, his third 100-yard game of the season according to UCF athletics. Hornes had five catches for 59 yards, and Chambers ran seven times for 54 yards and his team-leading fifth touchdown. Caleb Flagg and Tackett Curtis each made eight tackles, and Antione Jackson broke up three passes.

The win was a measure of recovery for Arizona State in Dillingham's fourth season. The Sun Devils had lost four of their first eight games, including a 55-19 home loss to Baylor and road defeats at Texas A&M, Texas Tech and BYU, before beating Colorado 20-10 last week. They now sit fourth in the Big 12 standings, while UCF is ninth.

"Our guys just keep bouncing back," Dillingham said, according to the AP. "They keep fighting."

Where UCF's season stands

The Knights have alternated big moments with rough ones. They beat then-No. 2 BYU 39-31 in double overtime on Oct. 24, lost 41-9 at home to Baylor six days later and won 33-32 at Kansas on Nov. 7. Saturday's loss was their second at home in a season that began with a 73-6 win over Bethune-Cookman.

The defeat also leaves UCF chasing a .500 record in Frost's second season of his second stint in Orlando. A sixth win would send the Knights to a bowl game.

What's next

UCF hosts Iowa State (5-5), another team one win from bowl eligibility, at Acrisure Bounce House on Friday, Nov. 20, for Senior Knight, with a 6 p.m. kickoff on FS1. The Knights close the regular season at Colorado on Nov. 28.

Arizona State hosts Oklahoma State on Nov. 21 before finishing at Arizona.