A Huge Second Half Propelled UCF to a 41-19 Victory Over SMU

It was the classic teacher versus pupil matchup in Orlando as UCF’s Gus Malzahn took on his former offensive coordinator, SMU’s Rhett Lashlee. Lashlee served as Malzahn’s OC at Springdale HS in Arkansas, Arkansas State, and Auburn. While both coaches are known for their high scoring offenses, SMU and UCF came out sluggish by their standards in the first half. SMU appeared to be the team that had the momentum and went into halftime with a 13-10 lead.

So how did UCF end up winning 41-19? Whatever Guz Malzahn had to say during his halftime speech, it definitely worked. The lopsided second half where UCF scored 31 unanswered points mostly came down to the reemergence of WR Ryan O’Keefe and UCF’s…