It wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but somehow UCF found a way to claw past Jacksonville State, 17-10, Thursday night at Acrisure Bounce House Stadium. Here are five things we learned from the victory:
This offense is a work in progress
Fans tuning in, hoping to see a throwback to the UCFast days when the Knights would score quickly and often, were probably disappointed by Thursday’s performance.
UCF punted on three of its first four possessions, but still managed to hold onto the football for nearly 20 minutes throughout the first half.
Coach Scott Frost indicated that, while the offense made some strides, there is still plenty of work ahead for the group.
“On offense, we’ve got a lot of young, inexperienced guys, and I thought that showed up a little bit tonight,” said Frost. “It took us out of a couple of scoring chances and we had some plays that didn’t hit or were in the wrong place or we did something wrong.”
However, he believes there will be a time and a place for UCFast.
“We’ll do it when it counts, when it’s appropriate,” Frost added. Our plan going into the game was to earn a couple of first downs and then go fast. … Offensively, we have to create more explosive plays and have to be really consistent.”
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Quarterback remains a mystery
Tayven Jackson didn’t let missing out on the starting quarterback job get him down.
Instead, the redshirt junior remained prepared and waited for his time, which came in the second quarter following an injury to starter Cam Fancher.
“It was a weird situation. Cam did a good job in the beginning of the game, but he got banged up, and it was always stay ready because your opportunity will always come,” said Jackson. “I was ready and I just went in there and played like how I played.”
Jackson went 17 of 24 for 282 yards, and it was his two fourth-quarter touchdowns to receiver DJ Black and tight end Dylan Wade that lifted the Knights to victory.
Fancher, who was 5 of 9 for 32 yards while adding 39 rushing yards, suffered a lower back injury, according to Frost and was unable to return.
Frost declined to discuss who would start against North Carolina A&T next week.
“I don’t want to comment on that right now. I love both kids, but I’ll talk to the trainers either later tonight or in the morning and have something more going forward,” he said.
Knights need more balance in the ground game
UCF finished with 108 rushing yards and a dismal 2.9 yards per carry, which was the lowest output by a Knights’ team since totaling 108 yards in a 24-13 loss to Florida last season.
Home is where the heart is and for Scott Frost, that’s UCF
Running back Myles Montgomery led the team in rushing yards (79) and attempts (21), followed by Fancher (39 yards) and Jackson (5). Backup running back Jaden Nixon had -6 yards on two carries.
“Going forward, we’ve got to rotate those guys a little more,” Frost acknowledged. “Stacy Gage is a good player, Jaden Nixon is a good player and Agyeman [Addae] is a good player. The game was just tight the whole time and [Myles] is a warrior and he stayed in and handled the bulk of it.”
Montgomery also finished with 3 catches for 71 yards.
Too many miscues
While UCF only had 9 penalties for 80 yards, it was the timing of those penalties that frustrated Frost.
“We didn’t have a lot of penalties; they were just at the wrong time,” he said. “It’s little things like you can’t push off on somebody when you’re getting up or a holding play on a touchdown or targeting. It just seemed to happen at the wrong time for us to catch any momentum.”
The Knights had a holding call at the start of the second quarter that nullified a 29-yard touchdown run by Montgomery. The defense was also flagged for three offsides penalties, an unsportsmanlike penalty and targeting at the start of the fourth quarter that resulted in linebacker Lewis Carter being ejected. Carter will be forced to miss the first half of the next game.
Defense steps up in offense’s absence
While the offense worked to get its legs under it, the defense was locked in from the start.
The unit held Jacksonville State to just 322 yards of total offense, but came up big several times throughout the game.
Linebacker Keli Lawson came up with a massive block on a 35-yard field goal by JSU’s Garrison Rippa right at the end of the first half.
“I’m not gonna lie. When they lined up, I already knew it was coming down,” Lawson said with a smile.
With Jacksonville State driving into UCF territory in the fourth quarter, the Knights came up big when safety Jayden Williams slipped past the offensive line and stopped Caden Creel on a 4th-and-1, forcing a crucial turnover on downs.
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
