Five things we learned from UCF’s win over Georgia State

UCF running back Duke Watson rushed for a career-high 177 yards and two touchdowns as the Knights leaned on their ground game to beat Georgia State 44-30 on Saturday.

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Quarterback Keyone Jenkins stepped in for Alonza Barnett III, who is out for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury. The senior transfer from FIU scored three total touchdowns, including a pair of rushing scores.

After surrendering 24 points and 323 yards in the first half, the Knights held GSU to just 162 yards and six points in the second.

UCF (2-1) opens its Big 12 season by hosting TCU on Saturday. Here are five things we learned from Saturday’s win:

Knights need better push from defensive front

Georgia State seemed to move the ball at will in the first half, scoring 27 points on five straight possessions, including a pair of double-digit play drives that accounted for more than 12 minutes off the clock.

Quarterback Cameran Brown picked apart UCF’s defense in the first half, passing for 167 yards and two touchdowns while running back Qwantavius Wiggins rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown.

The Knights managed a pair of sacks and 4 tackles for loss in the second half.

“Our whole group did a good job of staying calm and being businesslike. Nobody panicked at halftime and nobody got frustrated with somebody else at halftime,” said coach Scott Frost. “That game is going to serve us well down the stretch in the Big 12 season. There’s going to be a lot of games like that because everybody’s so close and you got to find ways to win close games.”

UCF ranks 58th in the nation in sacks with 6 and 45th in tackles for loss with 18.

The offensive line remains a work in progress

After rushing for just 20 yards in their 12-7 loss to Pittsburgh, UCF made a few offensive line changes against Georgia State, shifting Connor Meadows from center to right guard and promoting Jacob Maiava to center.

The move seemed to work for the most part, as the Knights didn’t allow a sack of Jenkins while rushing for 304 yards and averaging 7.6 yards per carry.

According to Frost, part of the move was made because Owen Spell, who started the first two games at right guard, has been bothered by plantar fasciitis.

“It’s great having Maiava and Connor Meadows able to move to guard because we’re going to need a lot of those guys down the stretch,” said Frost. “I don’t get to just watch the offensive line much, but we’ve got a lot of confidence in all the guys up front.”

“We were just more focused, more physical,” added Watson. “I felt like we were way more physical than last week, way more intent on our assignment.”

Jenkins clearly has room to improve

It wasn’t the stellar start Jenkins probably wanted in his 2026 debut, but the senior quarterback stepped up when the Knights needed him.

Jackson started the game by completing four of his first six passes, including finding Waden Charles on a 30-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter. But he completed only 3 of his last 11 passes for the rest of the game, including an interception.

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The Florida native did manage to run for 25 yards and score twice, his second career multi-touchdown game since rushing for two scores against Bethune-Cookman on Aug. 29, 2025.

“He didn’t get to throw it a whole lot tonight because of the nature of the game,” said Frost. “We certainly had a lot of plays that we trust him to throw in the game plan. It just kind of turned into that kind of game. We’ve got to let him probably let it loose a little more if we’re going to win some more games down the stretch.”

“I’m real comfortable with the offense. I love the progression game we got. If y’all see more of that, it’s gonna be real scary,” added Jenkins.

Takeaways crucial for UCF’s success

Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has stressed the importance of takeaways to his players arriving at UCF last season.

After failing to produce a turnover in the team’s loss at Pittsburgh last week, UCF managed three in the win against Georgia State.

Linebacker Tackett Curtis recorded his first career interception late in the third quarter, setting up the Knights’ go-ahead touchdown.

Safety Demari Henderson followed by picking off a pass early in the fourth quarter, resulting in a UCF field goal. The senior would add another interception at the end of the game to seal the win.

The Knights are 2-0 this season when winning the turnover battle.

The special teams unit steps up in a big way

While the offense and defense continue to find their footing through the first three games, the special teams unit has been solid throughout.

That was the case again on Saturday when linebacker Jahleel Culbreath blocked a punt by Georgia State’s Christian Teeter in the first quarter, resulting in a UCF field goal.

It was the first blocked punt by UCF since the team did it against North Carolina A&T on Sept. 6, 2025.

Kicker Matt Stone, meanwhile, connected on field-goal attempts of 24, 29 and 40 yards, improving to 4 for 4 on the season, while punter Atticus Bertrams averaged 50.3 yards on three kicks.

Kick returner Taevion Swint leads the Big 12 in kickoff returns, averaging 31.7 yards per return after totaling 88 yards against GSU.

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram at @osmattmurschel. Email: [email protected]. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.

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