The players and coaches on the UCF football team have already experienced an emotional rollercoaster in this young season, with thrilling victories and a disappointing loss. Throughout those ups and downs, the Knights believe they’ve gained valuable insight about themselves.
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That understanding will help as they kick off Big 12 play by hosting TCU on Saturday (3:30 p.m., FS1).
Particularly, it’s the lessons learned from the past two games: a disappointing 12-7 loss at Pittsburgh on Sept. 12 and an uneven performance in a 44-30 win over Georgia State last Saturday.
“The last two games have prepared us to play 60 minutes and to be in close games,” said coach Scott Frost. “One of the best things we did Saturday night was nobody panicked, nobody listened to any noise. We just kept doing what we’re supposed to do and found a way to win.”
UCF led 17-7 in the first quarter before Georgia State stormed back to take a 24-20 lead at the half. The Knights scored on the very first play of the second half, a 63-yard run by Duke Watson.
“It’s good to have that adversity and then battle back,” said offensive coordinator Steve Cooper. “We came back out in the very first play of the second half and ripped off the long touchdown run with Duke. Part of that was halftime adjustments and the other part is guys believing and playing with speed and precision and executing simple plays.”
The defense, in particular, stepped it up in the second half against both Pitt and Georgia State after struggling in the first half.
“Thank God the game’s 60 minutes, not 30 minutes,” defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said jokingly. “That’s two weeks in a row that, you know, we fought our tails off and collected at least six points in the second half, which is good.”
The Knights have allowed just one touchdown and 12 total points in the second half this season.
Grinch believes his unit lost sight of the little things that make it a good defense in the first half of both of those games. In the second half, the group refocused and paid attention to those details.
“The detail fights back. It rewards you when you do it right and it smacks you across the face when you don’t,” Grinch said.
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The good news is the defense forced three turnovers against GSU, the second game this season with multiple takeaways. UCF needs to keep that trend going as conference play begins.
Last season, the Knights managed just eight takeaways in nine Big 12 games; in four of those games, the defense failed to create a turnover. UCF lost all four.
“You don’t get takeaways if you’re not physical,” said Grinch. “It’s not going to happen, so it all ties in to one another. Details and discipline.”
The next month offers UCF quite the challenge: a home game against TCU, then back-to-back road contests at No. 25 Houston (Oct. 3) and Oklahoma State (Oct. 10), followed by a bye week and a home game against No. 9 BYU (Oct. 24).
The Knights are only favored against TCU, according to the latest ESPN Analytics.
To make matters worse, UCF is just 7-20 (26%) against Big 12 foes since joining the league in 2023.
“We got hit in the mouth against Pitt, not acceptable and then we worked through some of our issues against Georgia State,” said Cooper. “I don’t think we’re going to be perfect any point, but that’s our goal. We’re trying to be looking forward to the rest of the season, in particular this game against TCU.”
Frost knows the level of play will pick up starting this week.
“There are a lot of really good teams that are all pretty close and you can win or lose every week,” Frost said. “You’ve got to expect to be in those close games. A play or two here and there is what’s going to make the difference.”
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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