Gino Garcia’s 51-yard field goal proved to be the difference and Texas Tech was able to hold onto a 24-23 margin to down Central Florida Saturday night. The Red Raiders earned win No. 6 on the season to push through for a bowl berth for the third-straight season. The Knights looked primed to tie the game at 24 all after a touchdown from Javon Baker, but Colton Boomer’s PAT with 5:30 remaining in the game was tipped and no good.

Tahj Brooks continued to tear up opposing defenses, gashing the Knights for a 46-yard rush early in the contest. Brooks went on to finish with 24 carries, 182 yards, and a lone touchdown that gave Tech its first lead of the night in the third quarter. Brooks also effectively ended UCF’s night, putting the team on his back and almost single-handedly burning the last five minutes of the game on his own.

The Knights made quick work of their first offensive drive after Tech deferred the opening coin toss. A string of RPO passes drove UCF down the field before the drive was eventually capped off by an RJ Harvey rush in a wildcat set for the early 7-0 lead. The Red Raiders’ first crack on offense stalled in a turnover on downs, the first of two in the opening stanza of play.

By way of a fake field goal, the UCF offense was able to get near the goal line, and Harvey finished off the drive with his second score of the night.

The Red Raiders did not get on the board until the second quarter. Some nifty footwork from Behren Morton put the sophomore in scrambling throws, the final of which being a 15-yard pitch-and-catch to a wide open Drae McCray to cut the deficit in half, 14-7.

After a rare three-and-out from the high-powered UCF offense, Morton led a nine-play, 93-yard drive before connecting with Mason Tharp to knot the game at 14 apiece.

On the final drive of the opening half, poor clock management from head coach Gus Malzahn cost UCF on the scoreboard. Knocking on the door of the end zone, the Knights ran a shovel pass to Harvey anticipating a score, but he was stopped short. Without any timeouts, the clock evaporated and the game remained deadlocked.

The Red Raiders will travel to Austin for the season finale against Texas next Friday. The final matchup between the Longhorns as rivals in the Big 12 is slated for a 6:30 p.m. kick off.