UCF Football: 2024 Season Preview
The Knights Enter Year 2 in the Big 12 with Big Expectations
The long wait is over.
The 2024 UCF Football season is finally upon us!
It’s that time of the year again when hope is high and the entire season is in front of us.
Welcome back, Knight Nation!
This is a big season for a multitude of reasons and I am here to break it all down for you.
UCF will embark on Year 2 in the Big 12, facing their toughest schedule to date, entering the season with major changes to the coaching staff and roster.
Here is your 2024 UCF Football Season Preview!
Last Year
UCF began their Power Conference journey with a choppy inaugural season.
The Knights finished 6-7 overall and 3-6 in conference, which placed them 9th in the Big 12.
The season was full of highs and lows, but ultimately was an okay and expected start as they transitioned to the Power 4.
The Highs
Destroying #15 Oklahoma State 45-3 in the annual Space Game.
Winning 3 of their final 4 conference games to become bowl eligible, while also attaining that bowl eligibility in the final game of the season.
Being the only bowl eligible team of the 4 newcomers and finishing with the best record of those four.
RJ Freakin Harvey: Rushing for over 1,400 yards in an absolute monster season was really fun to watch.
The Lows
Blowing a 35-10 lead to Baylor in the 4th quarter.
Losing multiple close games that were in UCF’s grasp, such as Oklahoma.
The penalties
Some coaching decisions
Injuries
The abysmal run defense
Finishing with just 3 wins in the conference was probably expected but the middle of the season when UCF lost 5 straight games was super rough.
Losing to Georgia Tech in the bowl game.
But, the 2023 season is in the past and we move forward to a new year with renewed expectations.
2024 Preview
UCF had a loud offseason.
As I alluded to, they made multiple coaching changes, brought in a bevy of transfers, landed their best recruiting class in school history and Coach Gus Malzahn emphasized multiple times how unacceptable a 6-7 record at UCF was and that he vowed to make this season way better by going “all in.”
Coaching Changes
UCF hired 4 new coaches to the staff, while getting rid of 4 coaches as well.
New Hires include:
DC/LBs Ted Roof
OC/WR Tim Harris Jr.
Cornerbacks Trovon Reed
Director of Sports Performance - Anthony Kincy
Coaches Let Go/Departed:
WR Grant Heard
DB David Gibbs
LB Ernie Sims
Director of Sports Performance, Chris Dawson
In addition to those changes, UCF technically demoted both of last year’s coordinators after just one season on the job. Darin Hinshaw was demoted from OC to Quarterbacks Coach, while Addison Williams was demoted from DC to Defensive Backs (although he was also named Associate Head Coach).
These were part of big offseason changes that Coach Malzahn hopes will propel UCF to the next level.
Roof is a veteran defensive coordinator who coached with Malzahn in the past at Auburn. He has hopped around to a number of different schools over the past 30 years and also has some head coaching experience (Duke). He was brought in to fix the awful run D and make UCF’s defense tougher.
Harris Jr. returns to UCF after a 1-year departure to Miami. He was at UCF from 2021-22 as the running backs coach. Now, he will act as the offensive coordinator. However, we know this is a title in name only as Malzahn will be directing the offense. Still, Harris is an experienced and successful offensive coach, with successful stints at Booker T Washington, FIU and Miami.
We will see what kind of impact this makes.
Transfer Class
UCF brought in a whopping 25 transfers in the offseason, with 23 of them actually enrolling.
Nearly every position group was added, with 14 defensive players and 11 offensive players joining the club. DB was by far the position with the most new faces with a total of 8 new secondary transfers.
Here is a breakdown of the transfer class:
DB Bryon Threats (Cincinnati)
OL Jabari Brooks (Samford)
RB Myles Montgomery (Cincinnati)
TE Evan Morris (Michigan State)
DE Daylan Dotson (UT Martin)
QB KJ Jefferson (Arkansas)
DB/LB DeShawn Pace (Cincinnati)
LB Jesiah Pierre (Texas Tech)
DB Antoine Jackson (ECU)
OL Wes Dorsey (WKU)
LB Zavier Carter (UNLV) - transferred out
WR Goldie Lawrence (FSU) - transferred out
LB Xe’ree Alexander (Idaho)
DB Ladarius Tennison (Ole Miss)
LB Ethan Barr (Vanderbilt)
DB Cedrick Hawkins (Ohio State)
DE Nyjalik Kelly (Miami)
DB Tre’Quon Fegans (USC)
QB Jacurri Brown (Miami)
RB Peny Boone (Toledo)
WR Jacoby Jones (Ohio)
DB Sheldon Arnold (ETSU)
OL Keegan Smith (Central Michigan)
DB Mac McWilliams (UAB)
WR Ja’Varrius Johnson (Auburn)
OVERALL:
25 transfers (23 still at UCF)
POSITIONS:
QB: 1
LB: 4
DB: 8
OL: 3
RB: 2
TE: 1
DE: 2
QB: 1
WR: 3
OFFENSE: 11
DEFENSE: 14
CONFERENCES:
B12: 4
B10: 3
SEC: 4
ACC: 3
P4: 14
G5: 7
FCS: 4
Obviously, the most heralded transfer was QB KJ Jefferson, a 3-year starter at Arkansas, where he is the program’s all time leading passer and TD thrower. Other big name transfers include Miami DE Nyjalik Kelly, Toledo RB Peny Boone, Cincy LB Deshawn Pace, ECU DB Antoine Jackson, and Vanderbilt LB Ethan Barr to name a few.
With the recent depth chart released ahead of Week 1, it appears that 7 of the transfers landed a starting role, with an additional 14 of them making the 2 deep. That’s pretty damn good, with 91% of the transfers cracking the rotation. Obviously, this is just Week 1, so we will see if they stick and if they actually pan out into productive players at UCF.
The Offense
UCF features an offense that ranked #42 in the country last season at 31.3 PPG, while boasting the #4 rushing offense in the country, garnering 228 YPG last season.
The passing offense ranked #41 in the country, but that was likely a product of JRP’s inconsistency and injuries, while also being a run dominant team.
Overall, UCF’s offense was very good last year and this year should be even better.
UCF’s offensive floor will be good regardless because of their elite rushing attack, but if they are to improve as an entire unit and crack the top 25 offensively, it will depend on 3 things:
The Passing Game Improving
Coach Malzahn’s ability to be a successful Offensive Coordinator
The Red Zone Offense Improving
The Passing Game
UCF’s passing game was streaky last year. It obviously wasn’t bad, but it was fairly inconsistent.
UCF only had 2 games where they passed for over 300 yards and those came against Kent State and Villanova. There was also several games where the passing game was anemic, including 2 games where the Knights passed for less than 200 yards, as well as 4 games where they passed for 1 or less TDs.
It’s fair to say that was largely a product of being a run heavy offense, but also the fact that Plumlee wasn’t exactly an elite passer.
That should change this year with the arrival of KJ Jefferson.
The former Razorbacks signal caller has thrown for 7,911 yards and 67 touchdowns in his career, while averaging a 65.1 completion percentage and 8.2 yards per attempt.
That is something UCF hasn’t had since Dillon Gabriel was in town.
Jefferson is expected to elevate UCF’s passing attack and overall offense with his dual threat ability.
It’s been said multiple times that him and Malzahn are a perfect fit and that he should thrive in UCF’s offense.
At 6’3” and 245 pounds, we don’t have to worry about durability like we did with JRP, and he also possesses running skills, rushing for 1,876 yards and 21 TDS over the past 5 years.
Watch how he just bounces off defenders with ease…
Coach Malzahn as the Play Caller
Coach Malzahn relinquished play calling duties to Darin Hinshaw last season, before reportedly taking them back midway through the season.
Now, he’s made it crystal clear that he will be UCF’s OC this year. That has come with a mixed bag of results.
He’s known to be a brilliant offensive mind, but there definitely was some head scratching play calling last season.
It remains to be seen if he is the best man for that job and if can elevate UCF’s offense from good to great.
Red Zone Offense Needs to Improve
UCF’s red zone offense ranked #113 in the country last season, converting on just 75% of their attempts and only producing 32 touchdowns in 53 tries.
The Knights will have to be better in this category to take their offense to the next level.
Having a bevy of super talented backs and a massive QB like Jefferson should help here.
With that being said, let’s get into the individual position groups on offense.
Quarterbacks
The QB1 role has been locked up since the second Jefferson committed to UCF.
I already talked extensively about him so there’s not much to say here other than a lot rides on his shoulders this season. After the strong career he had in the SEC, all the highlights he racked up, his size and physicality, he is expected to do big things in Orlando.
While he had a somewhat lackluster season at Arkansas last year, a lot of that was blamed on their anemic offense as a whole and an offensive coordinator that was fired for his performance.
At UCF, Jefferson has plenty of weapons and a playbook that caters to his skill set.
Behind Jefferson, UCF brought in another transfer to be his backup, former Miami starter Jacurri Brown. While he doesn’t have a ton of experience, he still played in 9 games over the past 2 years and started in 4 when Miami had an injury to their QB1.
His results were mixed, but you can see the potential. Brown is also a dual threat guy, who can get it done with both his legs and arms.
Brown basically replaces Timmy McClain Jr., last year’s backup, who also started in 4 games when JRP was injured, but decided to transfer in the offseason.
Brown is a suitable replacement option should something happen to KJ.
Behind him, it’s a total youth movement in the QB room. UCF has 3 underclassmen, including redshirt freshman Dylan Rizk and 2 true freshmen in EJ Colson and Riley Trujillo.
I’d expect all 3 of them to redshirt this year barring some sort of major disaster. One of those 3 likely represents the future under center. The most promising one is Colson, who decided to reclassify from the 2025 class to 2024, and will use this year to develop and hopefully live up to his 4-star hype in the near future.
UCF’s QB room is set and boasts its best QB1 since Dillon Gabriel.
Depth Chart (starters indicated in bold):
KJ Jefferson
Jacurri Brown
Running Backs
The star of the offense is the running back room.
UCF boasts two top 8 rushers in the country from last year, with Peny Boone joining RJ Harvey to form arguably the best RB duo in the nation.
The two of them combined for 2,816 yards and 31 touchdowns last season.
Harvey was an absolute monster last season, enjoying one of the best individual seasons by any UCF RB in school history.
The former Virginia QB is already #9 all time in program history in rushing yards and has the opportunity to move into the #2 slot all time this season. His 1,416 yards last year was the 3rd most rushing yards in a single season in school history.
The fact that UCF has 2 guys with that type of pedigree is just unreal and will give UCF an elite rushing attack that will keep them competitive in nearly every game.
And it’s not just them.
UCF also still has the services of 5th year senior Johnny Richardson, the speedster who is a terror in the open field. He can be a great slot guy or just someone you get the ball to in open space who can take it to the house.
The Knights also landed Cincinnati transfer Myles Montgomery, who rushed for just over 400 yards last season, to go along with 3 scores.
Montgomery has apparently looked great in Fall camp and scored a long TD in one of the scrimmages.
Bottom line, this RB room is ELITE!
Depth Chart
RJ Harvey
Johnny Richardson
or Peny Boone
or Myles Montgomery
Wide Receivers
UCF took a blow when Javon Baker announced he was going pro. He was the team’s best WR last year, leading them in receiving yards.
However, the Knights return their 2 other top receivers in Kobe Hudson and Xavier Townsend.
Hudson led UCF in TD catches last year with 9, and should easily be UCF’s top wideout and deep threat this season.
Townsend had a strong sophomore campaign with 33 catches, 325 yards and 3 TDs, all career highs for the Tampa native.
The concern IMO is the depth behind that duo.
UCF did bring in 2 experienced transfers in former Auburn WR Ja’Varrius Johnson and former Ohio WR Jacoby Jones.
Both of them had solid careers at their previous schools, with Johnson leading Auburn in receiving in 2022 and Jones leading Ohio in the same category in 2022 as well.
Interestingly enough, former Florida transfer Trent Whittemore was listed as UCF’s WR3 ahead of Week 1. While he played in all 13 games last year, Whittemore only registered 3 catches for 36 yards.
UCF also has Chauncey Magwood and Jarad Baker as other veteran options, although neither has seen much field time.
In addition, UCF landed three highly recruited HS prospects, who may end up redshirting but could see some playing time this year. The top option is 4-star Bredell Richardson, who impressed early on in camp, as well as Jordyn Bridgewater and Kason Stokes.
With the depth chart being released, the second unit behind Hudson, Townsend and Whittemore will be Magwood, Johnson and Jones.
It looks solid on paper, but I am skeptical that this unit will be better than last year after losing Javon Baker. I think the Knights will need a breakout receiver outside of the Big 2, perhaps someone like Richardson or if a veteran like Johnson or Jones can really be a top line WR3.
Depth Chart:
Kobe Hudson
Xavier Townsend
Trent Whittemore
Jacoby Jones
Chauncey Magwood
Ja’Varrius Johnson
Tight Ends
UCF’s tight ends should be a vastly improved unit.
The room will be led by sophomore Randy Pittman, who looked the part as a true freshman last season.
He is poised for a breakout year and should be the Knights top pass catching option at TE. If no one materializes at WR3, Pittman should be able to fill that role.
Pittman was a Big 12 All Freshman Team honorable mention last year and looks to have the skill set that will make him an elite tight end as he develops.
Behind him, UCF brought in Michigan State transfer Evan Morris, who was primarily used as a blocker with the Spartans, and should see a similar role with the Knights, but can certainly catch a pass or two if needed.
UCF also has depth pieces with Grant Stevens and Reece Adkins.
Depth Chart:
Randy Pittman
Evan Morris
Offensive Line
The offensive line will be interesting this year.
It is the first time in a while where all 5 starters were on the team in the previous season.
UCF retained most of its top OL from last season, including Marcellus Marshall, Caden Kitler and Amari Kight.
The starters appear to be solid and reliable on paper with the line consisting of Marshall, Kitler, Kight, Paul Rubelt and Adrian Medley. It’s a veteran group with a lot of experience. Every starter besides Kitler is a senior or 5th year player.
The 5 starters have combined for 122 career games although that number is a bit skewed by the fact that most of Rubelt’s games were on special teams or in garbage time.
Marshall, Kight, Medley and to a degree, Kitler, are all proven commodities.
The interesting one is Rubelt, who has been at UCF for the past 4 years after being recruited from Germany. He’s played in limited fashion, but stuck it out, worked hard and earned the starting right tackle job. It’s a really cool story and hopefully he ends up being a huge asset. He certainly knows the program and has spent a lot of time developing.
The question mark is the depth behind them. UCF tried to address the need in the transfer portal, bringing in a trio of G5/FCS lineman, including Jabari Brooks, Wes Dorsey and Keegan Smith. They have all played a good amount at their previous schools, but weren’t exactly studs.
The Knights also have some other players who have seen some field time, including former Georgia transfer Cam Kinnie and redshirt freshman Keyon Cox.
But overall the offensive line is lacking true depth. The transfer lineman were all named backups, and the rest of the unit is generally underclassmen with little to no playing experience. One of the most promising underclassmen is 4-star Waltclaire Flynn Jr., who is the highest rated OL prospect in school history. He was vying for a starting spot, but was ultimately left off the 2-deep at least for now.
If the starting 5 can stay healthy, the unit should be fine but last year there was a rash of injuries that caused issues. UCF will hope to stay healthy and if they can’t, the team will see how good some of these transfers and young players are.
Depth Chart:
LT Amari Kight
LT Keyon Cox
LG Adrian Medley
LG Jabari Brooks
C Caden Kitler
C Cam Kinnie
RG Marcellus Marshall
RG Keegan Smith
RT Paul Rubelt
RT Wes Dorsey
Defense
UCF’s defense is one of the biggest storylines of the 2024 season.
We all know last year was pretty much a disaster on the defensive side of the ball.
The Knights ranked #81 in total defense, allowing 391 yards per game, #59 in scoring defense, #70 in 3rd down defense, and only produced 15 turnovers on the season.
But the even bigger disaster was the run defense, where the Knights ranked #122 in the country, which was bottom 10 in the nation. They allowed opposing teams to run for 194 yards per game and it was by far the team’s biggest weakness.
On top of that, UCF had trouble getting into the backfield and pressuring the quarterback. They were ranked in the 70’s in both team sacks and total tackles for loss.
Probably the only bright spot was the Knights passing defense, which ranked #25 in the country, a massive improvement from the 2022 season. They limited opponents to just 196 YPG, although that was largely due to teams choosing to run the ball all over them instead of passing.
The collective disaster on defense is why we saw such a major shakeup on the defensive staff and why an emphasis was placed on bringing in transfers on defense.
Roof has been tasked with fixing these issues and the players that transferred are largely veterans who are expected to turn around this defense.
Defensive Line
The defensive line is poised to be the D’s best group. They were the strongest part of the defense last year and returned almost every key player from that unit.
While UCF lost top DE Tre’Mon Morris Brash, they return breakout player of the year, Malachi Lawrence, who will be UCF’s top edge rusher this season.
Lawrence was 2nd on the team in sacks with 7.5 and 3rd on the team in TFL with 10.5. He should be even better this year and make up for the production lost by TMB.
Opposite of him will be Miami transfer Nyjalik Kelly, who was highly recruited out of high school due to his raw talent and athleticism. While he battled injuries last year, he was a key part of the Hurricanes defense in 2022 as a freshman. If he can break out this year, UCF will have a formidable edge rushing duo.
Behind them, UCF has some promising youth prospects, including Isaiah Nixon, Kaven Call and Jamaal Johnson. The trio hasn’t played much yet, but were all big recruits in the early Malzahn classes.
At defensive tackle, UCF returned everyone from last year and the group was slated to be the deepest and most talented group on defense until news broke earlier this week that rising star John Walker suffered a “lower body injury” and will miss an “extended period of time.”
Losing Walker is a huge blow as he was set to have a breakout season.
Still, the Knights have their top 2 DT’s from last year with Ricky Barber and Lee Hunter.
Hunter became a star last season, contributing 11 TFL (2nd on the team), 3 sacks and 69 tackles, which was the most tackles by any DT in the entire country. He is set to have a massive year and is a likely NFL draft pick after this season.
Barber will be his right hand man and will look to stay healthy this year. Barber has all the talent in the world, but battled injuries last year, playing in just parts of 10 games. Still, he posted 2 TFL and 1.5 sacks last year.
For depth, UCF boasts Matthew Alexander, who has improved each year since getting on campus. Last season, he was a big part of the rotation, producing 16 tackles, 1 TFL and 1 sack.
UCF also has FCS transfer Daylan Dotson, who was originally slated to be a DE, but was slid over to DT after the Walker injury. There is also former Oklahoma transfer Derrick LeBlanc, who was highly recruited out of HS and is still very young, as well as Andrew Rumph, who has reportedly made huge strides in his game.
However, one of the backup DT roles was actually won by walk on true freshman, Tyreek’e Robinson. He must have flashed some serious potential, and at 6’2” 320 pounds, he certainly looks the part.
Walker and Marcus Downs both sustained injuries and their timeframe for return is currently unknown. It remains to be seen if they will even return this season, although there is some optimism Walker could make it back before the end of the year.
Either way, UCF’s depth at DT took a massive hit with the 2 injuries, but still has a formidable starting duo.
Depth Chart:
DE Malachi Lawrence
DE Isaiah Nixon
DE Nyjalik Kelly
DE Kaven Call
or DE Jamaal Johnson
DT Lee Hunter
DT Matthew Alexander
DT Ricky Barber
DT Daylan Dotson
or DT Tyreek’e Robinson
Linebackers
UCF’s weakest link for several years now has been linebacker. Outside of a few standout guys, it’s been a largely forgettable group that has really hurt the overall defense.
Malzahn finally addressed it with a serious transfer haul in the offseason.
While UCF’s best linebacker, All Big 12 2nd Teamer Jason Johnson, went off to the NFL, UCF landed 4 new linebackers through the portal.
The good news is all of them are highly experienced and played pivotal roles on their previous squads. These aren’t development projects.
It starts with MLB Ethan Barr, who was named a team captain. He had a great career at Vanderbilt, where he played in 45 games over the last 4 seasons. He should make a major impact in the tackling and run defense department.
UCF also landed another big time transfer in former Cincinnati standout Deshawn Pace, who was a key member of the Bearcats 2021 CFP run. Pace has accumulated 246 tackles, 25.5 TFL, 3 sacks, 6 picks and 2 forced fumbles over the past 4 years. He will be UCF’s starting WLB and is a massive improvement over Walter Yates.
The other 2 key LB transfers are Xe’Ree Alexander and Jesiah Pierre.
Alexander had a standout freshman season at Idaho, where he was a FCS Freshmen All American. He posted 75 tackles on the season, while forcing 2 fumbles.
Pierre is a highly experienced player, with time in both the SEC and Big 12. The Mount Dora native started his career at Florida before transferring to Texas Tech, where he played in 35 games over the past 3 years. Pierre compiled 141 tackles, 10 TFL and 5 sacks in that span.
UCF has also recruited a ton of LB’s in recent years, who could start to play a part this season. Former 4-star Andrew Harris was listed on the 2 deep and should be a big factor. There is also Troy Ford Jr., TJ Bullard and Kam Moore, who were part of recent signing classes.
Then there is the 2024 class linebackers, including highly recruited players such as DJ McCormick and Qua Birdsong. They will likely redshirt this year but look to be key pieces of the future due to their potential.
Overall, this is the best looking linebacker core UCF has had in years. It’s full of highly experienced guys who have a ton of games under their belt and all made contributions at their last stops.
There is no reason UCF’s tackling and run defense, 2 of the biggest issues last year, shouldn’t be vastly better.
Depth Chart:
MIKE Ethan Barr
MIKE Jesiah Pierre
WILL Deshawn Pace
WILL Xe’Ree Alexander
or WILL Andrew Harris
Secondary
UCF’s secondary got a major makeover in the offseason with 8 new transfers arriving on campus.
On top of that, UCF landed 5 new freshman in the 2024 recruiting class, meaning that there are 13 new members of the secondary this season.
Even with all the new faces, the Knights lost very little in terms of key DB’s from last year, outside of Corey Thornton and Nikai Martinez.
At cornerback, the lockdown dude is Brandon Adams. He has been a reliable and consistent player since his freshman year at UCF, and has played in every single game for the last 3 years for a total of 39 contests. His stats aren’t flashy, but when he’s targeted, he rarely gives up catches or touchdowns.
The other key corners are transfers, including former UAB standout Mac McWilliams and former 4-star Antoine Jackson, who came over from ECU.
McWilliams somewhat surprisingly won the other starting CB job. He has 1 career INT.
Behind him will be Jackson, who had an impressive freshman campaign at ECU, contributing 19 tackles, 1 INT, which was a pick 6, and 2 PBUs.
The other backup CB is the lone true freshman to appear on the depth chart, former 3-star Chasen Johnson. He’s reportedly been extremely impressive in camp and it didn’t come as a surprise that he cracked the depth chart as a FROSH.
At safety, there is some really solid depth.
Demari Henderson returns after a breakout sophomore season, where he led UCF in interceptions and produced 5 turnovers overall. However, he will miss the beginning of the season recovering from an injury.
So, it will start with highly touted transfer Ladarius Tennison, who spent the last 4 seasons in the SEC for both Auburn and Ole Miss.
At Auburn, he was originally recruited by Malzahn and played under him for a season. He became a much bigger impact player after transferring to Ole Miss. Overall, he has 137 tackles, 18 TFL, and 2.5 sacks in his career. It’s no surprise he won one of the starting safety spots.
He will be flanked by former ETSU transfer Sheldon Arnold. The Loganville native is a 5th year senior, who played extensive minutes at ETSU. Last year, he started all 11 games, registering 87 tackles, 9 TFL, 4 picks and 3 FR while being named an All-American and a First Team All-SoCon selection.
The depth at safety is really strong, including former Cincy transfer Bryon Threats as a key reserve. He has 4 career interceptions, to go along with 123 tackles and 7 TFLs.
Additionally, there are 2 other UCF mainstays, who have been with the team for a long time in Quadric Bullard and William Wells.
Bullard has 43 games of experience under his belt and been a starter every season he’s been at UCF. He was listed as an “or” starter along with Tennison. Wells has been a key reserve for the past 3 seasons, playing in 29 games.
The rest of the secondary is primarily made up of other transfers and the 2024 recruiting class. UCF made 2 “developmental” plays with Tre’Quon Fegans and Cedrick Hawkins Jr.
Fegans, a 4-star, was a top 15 cornerback in the country and the #7 rated player in Alabama out of high school. He originally enrolled at Alabama but transferred to USC after a year. He didn’t get ample playing time at either school so he entered the portal for the 2nd time this offseason and UCF was able to land him. It remains to be seen if he is more hype than substance, but overall it looks like a worthy risk.
Hawkins was also a former 4-star out of high school and rated as a top 100 player in the state of Florida when he was at Cocoa High. Hawkins enrolled at Ohio State but redshirted the season last year. He also is someone that is a worthy risk due to his sheer athleticism and raw talent.
UCF also has their impressive lineup of true freshman DB’s from the 2024 class, highlighted by Johnson, and then 4-star Jaylen Heyward, as well as 3-stars Jakob Gude, Christian Peterson and Jashad Presley. It seems like only Johnson will play this year, but I could see Peterson or Heyward sneaking in some special team reps.
Overall, I think the secondary made major improvements in both talent and depth and could end up being UCF’s top defensive group. They will just need to get more turnovers and be more aggressive in the passing game.
Depth Chart:
CB Brandon Adams
CB Chasen Johnson
CB Mac McWilliams
CB Antoine Jackson
S Sheldon Arnold
S Bryon Threats
S Ladarius Tennison
S or Quadric Bullard
S William Wells
Special Teams
UCF’s special teams took a bit of a downturn last year, mainly due to the kicking woes of sophomore PK Colton Boomer.
After a hot start to the season, where he nailed the game winning 40-yard field goal, things started to fall apart for Boomer. He converted on just 62% of his field goals last year, going 13-of-21, while also missing 2 extra points.
That came after a stellar freshman campaign, when he converted 14-of-15 FGs and only missed 1 XP.
It was discovered that he was battling injuries throughout the 2nd half of last season and was also fatigued from handling both place kicking and kick off duties. He appears to be fully healthy entering this season.
The hope is he returns to his freshman year form. If not, 5-star PK Grant Reddick is there to potentially take over if Boomer struggles again.
At punter, UCF returns Mitch McCarthy, who averaged 42 yards per punt last season and was solid overall.
Long snapper duties will once again be handled by 5th year senior Gage King.
As far as returners, Xavier Townsend will handle punt returning and kick returning duties for the 2nd straight season. He received a ton of preseason honors for his returning skills, including All-Conference preseason awards by multiple media outlets.
Interestingly, RJ Harvey was listed as the backup kick returner, while Ja’Varrius Johnson was named the backup punt returner.
Overall, this group is okay, but it’s largely dependent on Boomer returning to form and being the reliable kicker he was in 2022.
Depth Chart:
PK Colton Boomer
PK Grant Reddick
P Mitch McCarthy
P Michael Carter
LS Gage King
LS Aidan Fedigan
H Mitch McCarthy
H Trent Whittemore
PR Xavier Townsend
PR Ja’Varrius Johnson
KR Xavier Townsend
KR RJ Harvey
Schedule
The schedule, on paper, looks to be the most difficult in UCF history.
The Knights face off against 2 preseason top 25 teams, Utah and Arizona, have a road matchup against SEC’s Florida, and play two top 5 teams from last year’s Big 12 standings on the road, both West Virginia and Iowa State.
On top of that, they have to travel across the country and two time zones to face Arizona State.
Fortunately, both ranked opponents are at home, they avoid conference favorites Kansas State and Oklahoma State, who are both ranked, as well as ranked Kansas, and benefit from playing 4 of the 5 projected bottom teams, including Cincy, BYU, Colorado and ASU.
UCF will have 7 home games this year, including 5 conference games at the Bounce House. They will only have back to back road games once all season, but it will be separated by a bye week. On the flip side, they will have 2 back to back home sets. The most difficult stretch is probably the final month when they have to travel to Arizona to face ASU, then face WVU on the road and finish the season on Black Friday (and short rest) against Utah.
This schedule is absolutely challenging and it will be very hard not to slip up a couple of times.
Week by Week Schedule:
vs. New Hampshire (8/29)
vs. Sam Houston State (9/7)
at TCU (9/14)
BYE
vs. Colorado (9/28)
at Florida (10/5)
vs. Cincinnati (10/12)
at Iowa State (10/19)
vs. BYU (10/26)
vs. #21 Arizona (11/2)
at Arizona State (11/9)
BYE
at West Virginia (11/23)
vs. #12 Utah (11/29)
Final Thoughts
This is a monumental season for UCF.
Coach Malzahn spent most of the offseason hyping up this year, saying things like he’s “going all in” to compete for the B12 championship, that 6-7 was unacceptable and took a much more serious tone in pressers.
He developed a new mantra, TNT, which means Tough n Together. He made sure Fall Camp was difficult, was strict on resting veterans and put an emphasis on physicality. He also put a premium on getting the team to bond and become a family.
Throughout the offseason, there was a ton of positivity and hype, mainly because of the experienced transfer class and highly touted freshman prospects. It remains to be seen if all of this will amount to a big improvement from last year, but there is no denying the increase in talent on this roster.
UCF still has some holes in key areas, but the overall depth is better and the team did a good job addressing many of the deficiencies from last year, including linebacker, run defense, QB and overall depth.
None of that matters until we see it happen on the field. The team will have to be better in closing out games and winning tightly contested ones. If that happens, they will take a big step forward.
Here is to hoping for an epic 2024 season!
Go Knights, Charge On!