Arizona State overcomes travel problems, handles UCF football to become bowl-eligible

ORLANDO — Forced to fly Saturday morning due to the Federal Aviation Administration's nationwide ground stop, Arizona State showed no signs of jet lag as it traveled two time zones and beat UCF in a battle for bowl eligibility.

The freshman backfield duo of Jake Fette (21-of-36 passing, 192 yards) and Cardae Mack (25 carries, 111 yards, one touchdown) shined as the Sun Devils controlled the ball for nearly 38 minutes of a 26-13 victory over the host Knights at the Acrisure Bounce House.

Arizona State (6-4, 4-3 Big 12) departed Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at 7:25 a.m. local time (9:25 a.m. Eastern) and landed at 12:47 p.m. — less than five hours prior to the rescheduled kickoff. Sun Devils players stretched on the tarmac at Orlando International Airport and drove to a nearby hotel for a pregame meal and meetings.

"That was utter chaos, moving 200 people across the country on different times and you're staying in different places and they handled it as flawlessly as we could possibly handle the situation," Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham said. "I got told something when I was a high school coach, 'Excuses are like buttholes, everybody has them and they all stink.'

"And that's what tonight would have been. Just an excuse. At the end of the day, we were going to take the field for 60 minutes and play a football game. You're going to get it done or you're not, and nobody's going to care what the circumstance was because nobody cares about circumstances. They care about results."

UCF head coach Scott Frost refused to acknowledge the "narrative" surrounding Arizona State's perceived disadvantage.

"I've coached on teams that have had to travel late, too," Frost said. "They played better than us today. If you guys want to make it about that narrative, you can. But they made more plays out there than we did today, and that's really what it came down to."

UCF produced its second straight dud at home since its landmark win over BYU, falling 41-9 against Baylor back on Oct. 30. The Knights (5-5, 3-4) rushed for just 54 yards, went 2 for 9 on third down and scored once on three trips inside the red zone.

Alonza Barnett III connected on 21 of 30 throws for 257 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown to Tyren Hornes when the outcome was beyond reach. Josh Derry had his second straight 100-yard receiving game, catching seven balls for 137 yards.

Here are three takeaways from a loss that casts a little bit of doubt on UCF's return to a bowl game.

UCF offensive line crumbles in final minute of 1st half

Barnett showed obvious frustration as the first half ended, following a pair of sacks that swung momentum heavily in the Sun Devils' favor.

UCF took over, down 13-7, with 43 seconds on the clock, one timeout in its pocket and possession of the ball to start the second half. On the first play, Jalen Thompson beat Henry Tabansi around the left edge and forced a fumble, recovered by Albert Smith III.

Carson Smith kicked a 41-yard field goal four plays later, giving the Sun Devils a two-score lead.

Arizona State opted to pooch the ensuing kickoff, and UCF tried its luck again to cut into the deficit. Barnett found Tyren Hornes for a 12-yard gain, then spiked the ball at the Sun Devils' 48. However, Thompson tracked down the redshirt senior again and brought him down before he could launch a Hail Mary.

Alonza Barnett was NOT happy with his offensive line on the final play of the first half. @UCF_Football trail Arizona State 16-7 at the half pic.twitter.com/ynUkZzBMvu

— Zach Maskavich WESH (@ZachMaskavich) November 15, 2026

Barnett popped up and shouted in the direction of Tabansi, unbuckling his chinstrap and slamming his helmet onto the ground.

"They had the right call at the right time a lot, and their big-time players that they've invested in made plays when they needed (it)," Frost said.

"We're going to have to score more points than that to beat good teams. They're another good Big 12 team. When I say that when we win, you guys agree. We've got to play our best; that's where we're at. My hat's off to them, again."

UCF fails to end 3-year drought of back-to-back Big 12 wins

Arizona State notched its second straight win for the first time this season, alternating results the prior nine weeks. UCF, meanwhile, has gone more than three years since posting consecutive Big 12 victories.

UCF defeated Cincinnati and Oklahoma State on consecutive November Saturdays in 2023, its debut season in the conference. It has had no such luck since, going 10-24 against league opponents in the process.

"It's not just this league; anybody can beat anybody any given week," Frost said. "I think we've played over our skis a couple times and won a couple games. When we're in close games, our guys keep fighting. We fought to the end tonight. … Their two touchdown drives, I thought we had them covered perfect. Both times, their receivers made plays that led to touchdowns."

The first was a successful bit of trickery. Arizona State called a double pass in which Fette hit Derek Eusebio behind the line of scrimmage, and he lofted a 28-yard completion to tight end Anthony Miller at the UCF 2. Two plays later, Marquis Gillis opened the scoring.

Late in the third quarter, Fette escaped a potential sack from defensive tackle Trenton Turner and found Eusebio for just enough yardage to move the chains on third-and-seven. Arizona State kept the ball for 7:16 on a season-long, 14-play, 81-yard drive, capped off by Mack's 6-yard direct-snap rush.

Three of the Sun Devils' six scoring drives covered at least 10 plays; four surpassed the five-minute mark.

"We've just got to look at Iowa State, and we can't allow those guys to score every possession like that," said senior cornerback Antione Jackson, who had three pass breakups. "We've just got to fix our mistakes and look at what we're doing wrong."

Horace Lockett sidelined as surprise inactive for UCF

UCF ruled out three key starters well ahead of kickoff on the Big 12's availability report — running back Duke Watson, wide receiver Waden Charles and safety Demari Henderson. However, Horace Lockett's absence came as a bit of a surprise, considering he was not listed on the report at any point of the week.

Lockett hurt his ankle in pregame warmups, Frost said. The 6-foot-6, 355-pound redshirt senior has 33 tackles on the season with three TFLs, 1.5 sacks and one fumble recovery. He started each of the Knights' first nine games at defensive tackle.

"We were planning all week to have him and then, right before kickoff, we didn't have him," Frost added. "I thought the other guys played well. College football is what it is, and you build a team around certain guys. And you need those guys that you invest in and bring into the program to play well and make plays for you. … We need our best players out there."

Injuries hampered Lockett each of the previous two campaigns. He missed the entire 2024 season at Georgia Tech with a hand injury and the final eight games last fall after tearing his pectoral against Kansas State.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Arizona State overcomes travel problems, handles UCF football to become bowl-eligible