Thursday night, UCF will take on Bethune-Cookman to open the Knights’ season at 7:00 p.m. UCF is coming off a 5-7 first year back under head coach Scott Frost, who coached at UCF from 2016-2017. During his first stint with the Knights, Frost led UCF to an undefeated season, an American Conference title and a 2017 national championship before taking the head coaching position at Nebraska, where he coached from 2018-2022.
Frost will look to get the Knights back on track in his second season. After going 5-7 in his first year back in Orlando, the biggest question for UCF will be whether Frost can establish a new identity for the Knights while bringing back the style of football that made his first tenure so successful.
Players to watch for the Knights on offense include transfer quarterback Alonza Barnett III from James Madison, who accounted for 2,806 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions for the Dukes while leading the team to the College Football Playoff.
Another player to watch is junior running back Duke Watson, who transferred from Louisville. Watson appeared in five games for the Cardinals in 2025, recording 49 carries for 158 yards and one touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, transfer defensive back Jayden Bellamy will be one to watch. Bellamy, who transferred from Syracuse, recorded 20 solo tackles, one interception and eight pass deflections for the Orange in 2025.
I spoke with former UCF running back Mark-Antony Richards about what he wants to see from the Knights this season. Richards said he wants to see the offense truly find a rhythm this year, not a repeat of the 2017 offense, but a new-age UCF offense.
Richards said he did not believe the offense fully gelled last year and wants to see the team establish a true UCF identity on offense. He felt the offense struggled to consistently put everything together, with either the passing game or running game working at different times instead of seeing both complement each other.
That balance will be important as UCF enters Year 2 under Frost. While the Knights may never be expected to replicate the 2017 team, Richards believes the offense can develop its own identity and find the consistency that was missing last season.
Richards also wants to see the new defense and how the team develops throughout the season to determine how much improvement was made during the offseason.
One bold prediction Richards has for the Knights is an 11-1 season, with a floor of 7-5, which would be a significant turnaround for Frost and the program.
He also believes Houston and BYU will be two of the biggest games on UCF’s schedule. Richards thinks those are games many fans may not expect the Knights to win, but he has faith in the offense.
Richards believes Barnett could be either the Big 12 Player of the Year or at least the conference’s Newcomer of the Year. Based on the games he watched while Barnett was at James Madison, Richards said Barnett will be a lot of fun to watch this season.
For Thursday night’s season opener, Richards is predicting a dominant performance from the Knights, picking UCF to defeat Bethune-Cookman 45-0.