Maybe the month of October isn’t so scary after all.
Running back Jaden Nixon scored twice in a 21-point third-quarter explosion that broke open a close game and propelled UCF to a 45-13 victory over West Virginia at Acrisure Bounce House in Orlando.
Nixon extended the Knights’ 14-7 lead at halftime with touchdown runs of 12 and 83 yards and the rout was on. UCF (4-3, 1-3) recorded its first Big 12 victory of the season, its first homecoming win since 2023, a first-ever defeat of West Virginia in five meetings, and the first triumph in the month of October since 2022.
Leading all rushers with 116 yards on the ground, Nixon carried just seven times but made them count.
“It’s the energy around me that the guys give me that just allows me to keep going,” Nixon said. “I can’t lie. Those guys do a great job blocking everything up and opening holes. We do a great job calling plays up. The whole team and the coaches just really put me in a great position to do what I do. I just have to get out there and do it when it comes to my time.”
Quarterback Tayven Jackson got the Knights started with a pair of first-quarter touchdown passes, both to redshirt senior Chris Domercant, and both on fourth down throws. Jackson capped the Knights’ opening drive of the game, a 97-yard march – their longest of the season – with a 40-yard strike to Domercant, who also hauled in a 34-yard scoring strike that gave the Knights an early 14-0 lead.
“The last couple of weeks we’ve been struggling,” Domercant said. “We were moving the ball at well during some of these games, but we were also shooting ourselves in the foot in the red zone. I feel like that was a big emphasis going into this week. Once we get down there, let’s just take a deep breath, relax, just shoot your shot, and have confidence in your training. And I feel like that definitely helped us convert a lot of those and turn those into touchdowns.”
Jackson completed 23 of 34 passes for 277 yards. He completed passes to 10 different receivers while Domercant led all receivers with five catches for 89 yards.
“Our receivers did a great job today, getting open, playing fast, and playing physical,” Jackson said. “Our O-line gave me time, and our running backs did a great job picking up the blitzes. They were 40 or 50% of blitz, and I don’t think I got sacked today. That goes to show that our running backs and our offensive line are dialed. That was the key thing this week that made my job easy.”
Included in the third-quarter outburst was a defensive score. Nyjalik Kelly (eight tackles, one sack) forced his fifth career fumble and second of the season, and linebacker Keli Lawson scooped and scored from 32 yards out.
“Kudos to the coaches, kudos to my glorious defensive line, kudos to Nyjalik Kelly for getting the ball out,” said Lawson. “Everybody is doing what they’re supposed to be doing and when you get hit with a blessing like that you don’t have no other choice but to score.”
A stout Knights defense recorded seven sacks, most for UCF in nearly two decades. Linebacker Cole Kozlowski led the charges with 11 tackles, including eight solo, and one sack.
West Virginia closed the gap to 14-7 early in the second quarter on a 6-yard touchdown run by Khalil Wilkins, who led the Mountaineers with 48 rushing yards on 15 carries.
But the Knights came out swinging in the second half and even added on in the fourth quarter. Kicker Noe Ruelas booted a 51-yard field goal, his fifth career make of 50-plus yards, and freshman quarterback Davi Belfort added a 10-yard touchdown run as the lead ballooned to 45-7.
The Mountaineers (2-5, 0-4) scored late in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by Diore Hubbard.
