ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF football, coming off a 56-10 victory against South Carolina State last week, will get an opportunity to even its series against the Louisville Cardinals on Friday night at FBC Mortgage Stadium.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m.

While the Cardinals fell to Syracuse 31-7 in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup last week, their 42-35 victory against the Knights early last season was a painful one for UCF in many ways.

The Knights were driving to try and break a 35-35 tie in the final seconds when quarterback Dillon Gabriel was hit and broke a clavicle, ending his UCF career. He transferred to Oklahoma after the season.

And that wasn’t the only injury. Running back Isaiah Bowser was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with a knee injury that nagged him much of the rest of the season. Linebacker Tatum Bethune, cornerback Corey Thornton and wide receiver Jaylon Robinson also were injured and had to leave the game.

“I think everybody knows just how tough a loss that was us with the circumstances that happened,” UCF coach Gus Malzahn said. “I think we lost five starters during the game, I think we lost seven or eight players during the game. Then we lost our quarterback on the last play of the game. That was a real tough, tough deal there.

“So this is a game that is very important to us… especially for the guys who went through that last year. You use everything you can to push yourself in college football.”

Bowser and Thornton are back — and healthy — this season, and UCF seeks a different outcome at home.

To even the series at 2-2, the Knights must find a way to stop Cardinals quarterback Malik Cunningham, who threw for 265 yards and a touchdown and ran for 99 yards and two touchdowns in last year’s contest.

Containing Cunningham will be a test for UCF’s entire defense, Malzahn said.

“Their quarterback is one of the top quarterbacks in all of college football,” Malzahn said. “He played really good against us last year. He’s a phenomenal player. We know that. We saw it firsthand last year.”

Defensive lineman Anthony Montalvo agreed.

“We don’t want him (Cunningham) getting into the open field,” Montalvo said.

Malzahn said he doesn’t believe that Louisville’s loss to Syracuse last week is an indication of how good they are this season.

“If I remember right, their back was a little against the wall last year when we played them,” Malzahn said. “So we know we can get their best.”

The Knights will need to avoid penalties so they don’t hurt themselves, he said.

Wide receiver Ryan O’Keefe said the game is an important one.

“I feel like this game is going to tell a lot about our season,” he said. “I feel like they are a really talented team. I feel like what they showed last Saturday wasn’t really who they are. We’re going to get the best version of them. We’ve just got to be the best version of ourselves and be ready to go.”

Having a house packed with Knights fans would be helpful, too, O’Keefe and Montalvo agreed.

“I hope that house is really packed and loud!” O’Keefe said.