By the end of the first quarter, Memphis running back Darrell Henderson had rushed 12 times for 115 yards and a touchdown. Whatever the team’s fate Saturday against No. 10 UCF, there was not going to be any chance that second-guessers could point to the nation’s leading rusher not getting the ball enough.

This wasn’t going to be like when Memphis lost at Tulane two weeks ago and Henderson finished with just seven carries for 51 yards.

In the end, of course, a lot of Darrell Henderson – 31 carries for 199 yards and would-be tacklers going one way while Henderson went the other – still wouldn’t be enough for the Tigers to hold a 13-point halftime lead.

UCF remained unbeaten and pushed its winning streak to 19 games, the longest in the country, with a 31-30 victory Saturday at Liberty Memorial Stadium, even though the Knights rushed for 165 yards – or 34 fewer than Henderson alone cranked out.

“It’s a hard one to take,” said Henderson, who now has 1,133 rushing yards this season and 2,769 for his career, moving him into second-place all-time in program history behind DeAngelo Williams’ 6,026 yards from 2002-2005.

For a moment, it appeared the day might have a heroic-Henderson ending. UCF had overcome the 30-14 lead the Tigers held late in the first half and gone ahead early in the fourth quarter after a 7-yard touchdown run by quarterback McKenzie Milton.

Memphis had to punt on its first possession after the go-ahead score, but got the ball back with 7:48 left in the fourth quarter. Starting on the UCF 41-yard line, Henderson ran for gains of five and four yards to set up a third-and-1 at the 32-yard line. Henderson broke through the line, made a couple of moves, and moments later was in the end zone.

With 6:44 left, it looked like Memphis had the lead again.

“I was running down to the end zone, and I heard a whistle, saw the ref do something and then I looked back and saw the flag,” said Memphis quarterback Brady White. “I was hoping it was on them. But it was on us.”

Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Dylan Parham was called for holding. The replays were inconclusive; it appeared Parham moved his man, but the defender also fell as though he possibly had been grabbed.

Henderson, too, said he had “no clue” that holding had been called until after he had reached the end zone and looked back.

But Henderson, like coach Mike Norvell, did not attribute the loss to just that one play or any other. The Tigers lost two fumbles, including one by Henderson; Memphis, however, got the ball back the very next play after Henderson’s fumble when Milton was sacked and fumbled.

The Knights slowed Henderson a lot after halftime. He amassed 172 of his 199 yards in the first half on 21 carries. He gained just 27 yards on 10 carries in the second half.

“The defense had a phenomenal second-half effort,” said UCF coach Josh Heupel.

“They made adjustments. That’s part of the game,” Norvell said. “They did some good things to disrupt the run game.”

Henderson said he found new members of the defensive front’s welcoming committee in the second half: “They changed their defensive line. Like, they put all fast guys up there instead of the big bodies.”

Adjustments were also made by the UCF offensive line against the Memphis defensive line. Nose tackle John Tate had two sacks in the first half. In the second half, the Knights changed things up on him.

“They double-teamed more,” Tate said. “They kinda chipped me sometimes. I didn’t have one-on-ones with the guard no more, the center stayed also.”

Henderson, like White and Tate, spoke in a low voice in the postgame press conference. He had been part of the Tigers putting the No. 10 team in the country on the brink of defeat.

Now, he shared the heartbreak of not getting the job done, and there wasn’t much solace in those yards or in what might have been.

“I mean, football is a team sport,” he said. “It’s all 11 guys. Not just me.”