'Philly Special' helps Pitt hand UCF first regular season loss since 2016

In a failed comeback attempt, UCF lost its first regular season game since 2016 thanks to Pitt running the “Philly Special” — the 4th-and-1 play the Philadelphia Eagles ran on their way to winning the 2018 Super Bowl — or what Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi referred to as the “Pitt Special” after the game. The Knights’ regular-season win streak ended at 27 straight games.

That play redeems Narduzzi and co. for their cowardly failure last week against Penn State.

Trailing 34-28 with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter, Pitt was 4th-and-2 on UCF’s three-yard line, and quarterback Kenny Pickett and wide receiver Aaron Mathews pulled off the perfect trick play for a touchdown and a 35-34 lead with the extra kick.

The Knights got the ball back for one final attempt to save their regular-season win streak, but they moved backward and ran out of time after coming back from a 21-0 first-half deficit.

UCF’s last regular season loss was on November 26, 2016 against South Florida.

The Knights finished the 2017 season with a perfect 13-0 record, which included beating Auburn in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl and led the team and fan base to declare themselves the real national champions after being ignored by the College Football Playoff. Last year, they once again had an undefeated regular season before losing to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl and finishing 12-1.

On the road against Pitt on Saturday, UCF was down by three touchdowns in the second quarter and trailed 21-10 at halftime. But they fought back with four touchdowns and a field goal. The Knights’ lead was as big as 31-21 toward the end of the third quarter.

But late in the fourth, Pitt rallied back and ate time off the clock on its was to the “Philly Special” touchdown.