MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — UCF fell to West Virginia 31-21 on Saturday, guaranteeing that the Knights cannot win a sixth game this season to become bowl eligible.

It marked the seventh loss in eight games for the Knights since their 3-0 start and assured UCF of its second losing season in a row as members of the Big 12 and under coach Gus Malzahn.

“Obviously, when you don't go to a bowl, that's a really tough deal to swallow," Malzahn said. "And there's a lot of disappointed guys in the locker room right now.”

Despite 130 rushing yards from senior running back RJ Harvey, the Knights (4-7, 2-6 Big 12) got off to a slow start and could not catch up after falling behind 21-7 in the first half.

Harvey, a Doak Walker Award semifinalist, accounted for two of UCF's three touchdowns, a 2-yard run in the second quarter to pull the Knights to 14-7 and a 9-yard run in the fourth to make it 31-20 with 5 minutes, 20 seconds remaining.

He surpassed 100 yards rushing for the eighth time this season and 16th in his career, the second most in program history. The former standout at Orlando Edgewater has 1,484 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns this season.

The Knights' other touchdown came on a 45-yard touchdown pass by Dylan Rizk to Kobe Hudson in the third quarter.

Garrett Greene and West Virginia's other seniors savored one last chance to sing John Denver's “Take Me Home, Country Roads” with fans after a home win.

There haven't been many victories at Mountaineer Field this season. But this one was enough to help the Mountaineers become eligible for a bowl game.

“I definitely tried to soak it in a little more than I usually do,” Greene said. “That’s the most special tradition in all of college sports.”

Greene threw a touchdown pass in his final home game and CJ Donaldson had two short touchdown runs for West Virginia.

West Virginia (6-5, 5-3 Big 12) avoided losing for the fifth time at home, which hasn’t happened since 1990. Whether the win was enough for embattled coach Neal Brown to keep his job remains to be seen. Brown is 37-34 in six seasons.

“I'm just happy for our guys, happy for our seniors, happy to get to six,” Brown said. “We've been up and down. Like, I don't hide from that. We're going to strive to get to seven.”

Donaldson, averaging 53 rushing yards per game, finished with 96 yards. He came out determined with 56 yards on his first four carries, including a 1-yard run on West Virginia's opening series.

West Virginia cornerback Dontez Fagan then recovered a fumble by UCF quarterback Dylan Rizk, and Donaldson ran for 28 more yards on the next series that was capped by Jahiem White’s 3-yard touchdown run.

After Harvey's score with 5:20 to go, the ensuing onside kick didn't go the required 10 yards. Greene then converted a pair of fourth-down passes, and West Virginia ran out the clock. Greene finished 13 of 21 for 118 yards and added 49 rushing yards.

The Takeaway

UCF: The Knights outgained West Virginia 348 yards to 318, but WVU converted eight third downs and was 4-for-4 on fourth downs compared to 3-for-9 on third downs and 1-for-2 on fourth downs and dominated the time of possession. UCF has lost seven of eight games following a 3-0 start.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers won despite being stuck in many third-and-long situations on offense against a solid effort from UCF's defensive front.

Up next

UCF: Hosts Utah at 8 p.m. Friday to try to wrap up its season with a Senior Day victory.

West Virginia: Finishes the regular season at Texas Tech next Saturday.