There is more that ails UCF than ailing quarterback Ryan Schneider.
Schneider did his part in Saturday's 38-24 loss at Akron, overcoming the sprained shoulder that had kept him out of the lineup since a 20-point loss at Kent State on Sept. 27. He was hardly flawless, but he produced when he had to.
The same cannot be said of his teammates.
Schneider was 25-for-34 for 259 yards and two interceptions. Down 21-3 at the half, UCF rallied briefly with Schneider under center. He threw his first of two touchdowns to Tavaris Capers, this one for 3 yards, with 12:35 left in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 21-10.
The Knights outscored the Zips 21-17 in the second half and even had the lead down to 28-17 midway through the third. With UCF at its 9, coach Mike Kruczek sent in a play he was certain would go for a touchdown.
Capers broke free 15 yards from the nearest cornerback. Schneider held the ball until the last second to give Capers enough time to get deep. Just after the quarterback heaved the ball, he went down after taking a shot to the chin.
It could have been a 91-yard touchdown.
If Capers hadn't dropped it.
After UCF's punt, Akron drove 68 yards to go up 35-17, and the game was virtually over.
The Knights fell to 2-4, and the culprits haven't changed. Again the running game stalled. UCF was outrushed 197-58. Tailback Alex Haynes, who had 10 rushes for 22 yards, was pulled in the second half, hobbled by injuries old (stomach pull) and new (strained groin). Akron didn't turn the ball over and UCF turned it over three times. Akron dominated time of possession (36 minutes, 19 seconds).
But with Schneider back, Kruczek said the Knights played far better than without him.
"I thought he did a remarkable job having only practiced two days last week and having missed the previous two weeks getting ready for this football game," Kruczek said. "I think the kids heightened their performance, though we ran into a very, very good football team."
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: It's not every coach of a 6-1 team that intends to use the bye week to figure out what went wrong.
But that's exactly what Bethune-Cookman coach Alvin Wyatt intends to do after his Wildcats surrendered a 28-0 lead, barely holding on to a 31-28 win over South Carolina State Saturday.
"I hope we did not get satisfied with what we had and started to relax," Wyatt told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. "But I'll check into that as we get into this open week."
Down 31-6, the Bulldogs scored three touchdowns in 9:43 in the second half. The decisive points for B-CC turned out to be Jesus Cortez's 46-yard field goal with 8:25 left in the third.
The Wildcats have until Nov. 1 to get everything straight. That's when North Carolina A&T visits the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions.
UNKNOWN TERRITORY: B-CC better be ready for North Carolina A&T after what the Aggies did to the Rattlers on Saturday. NCA&T beat FAMU 22-16, handing the Rattlers another loss to a soon-to-be-former rival on their way to Division I-A.
FAMU coach Billy Joe's team is 4-4, having lost two straight. Facing the first losing season in his 10 years, Joe made a surprising admission about his team.
"Our players spilled their guts and gave me a lot of energy," he told the Tallahassee Democrat."We came to win and played as well as we have the capability to play.
"We just aren't a great football team this year."
- Information from other news organizations was used in the report.
