For the second time in the last three weeks, the UCF football program travels to the state of Kansas as the Knights will take on the Kansas Jayhawks Saturday at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT on FOX. UCF visited Manhattan, Kansas, on Sept. 23 about 90 miles away from the site of this weekend’s matchup.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Oct. 7
Time: 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT
TV: FOX
Talents: Jason Benetti (PXP), Brock Huard (Analyst), Allison Williams (Sideline)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Spanish Radio: UCFKnights.com, YouTube.com/UCFKnights
Live Stats: click here
A UCF WIN WOULD...
• Mark the first Big 12 Conference win in program history.
• Mark the first win against Kansas in the first meeting between the programs.
• Mark the first home loss of the season for Kansas and the Jayhawks first loss at home since Nov. 19, 2022.
• Give head coach Gus Malzahn his first win against Kansas in his first meeting against the program.
• Give Malzahn his 99th career win as a head coach, one shy of reaching 100 career victories.
• Be better than a loss
SERIES BREAKDOWN
| Overall | First Meeting |
KNIGHT NOTES
• UCF’s offense continues to rank among the nation’s best following the first five games of the season, as the Knights are fifth in the country and lead the Big 12 Conference in total offense, averaging 545.8 yards per game. The Knights have surpassed 400 or more yards in each game this season, headlined by 723 yards in the season opener against Kent State, the second-most yards by any team in the country this year in a single game.
• Additionally, the Knights are third nationally in rushing offense with 255.2 rushing yards per game, behind Air Force (329.8), which runs the triple option, and Liberty with 271.2. UCF is one of just 17 FBS programs that has surpassed 1,000 rushing yards as a team this season with the Black and Gold compiling 1,276.
• In scoring offense, UCF is averaging 37.6 points per game to rank 19th nationally and third in the Big 12. The Knights are one of only four teams in the conference to score 31 or more points in at least four games this season, joining Kansas, TCU and Texas.
• UCF is the only team to rank among the top three in the Big 12 in total offense (first), rushing offense (first), scoring offense (second) and passing offense (third).
SCOUTING KANSAS
Kansas is in its third season under head coach Lance Leipold, who has a 12-17 record over his three years with the Jayhawks. Last season, Leipold led the program to its first bowl win since 2008 and its first 5-0 start since 2009. The Jayhawks started the season with a 4-0 record, before suffering their first loss at Texas on Saturday in its most recent outing.
Kansas, picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 Preseason Poll with 461 points behind UCF, was ranked in the Associated Press Poll last week and the squad is receiving votes in the AP and Coaches Poll this week. The Jayhawks are led by junior quarterback Jalon Daniels, who was voted the Big 12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
In addition to Daniels, running back Devin Neal, offensive lineman Mike Novitsky and defensive back Cobee Bryant were tabbed to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team. The Jayhawks are averaging 33.0 points per game and have yielded 26.2 ppg to opponents. Kansas is undefeated at home this season with wins over Missouri State (48-17), Illinois (34-23) and conference member BYU (38-27).
Kansas owns one of the nation’s top secondaries, as they rank 11th in the NCAA and second in the Big 12 in interceptions with seven.
MORRIS-BRASH LEADING THE NATION
Fifth year defensive end Tre’mon Morris-Brash has solidified himself among the nation’s top edge rushers, as he leads the nation in tackles for loss with 12.0. Morris-Brash has tallied three tackles for loss in three of UCF’s five games this season and has had at least 1.5 in the other two games. He’s averaging 2.4 TFLs per game, which also leads the country.
His 50 career tackles for loss are also the most by any active FBS player and the fourth most in UCF program history behind record holder Elton Patterson (59.5), Bruce Miller (57.5) and Darrell Rudd (56.5).
In addition to his TFLs, Morris-Brash has five sacks to tie for the fourth-most nationally and lead the Big 12. As a team, the Knights’ 13 sacks for 105 yards are the third most in the league.
COACHING CONNECTIONS
UCF head coach Gus Malzahn and Knight Nation will recognize a couple of familiar faces on Saturday, as Kansas defensive tackles coach Jim Panagos was the defensive line coach at UCF from 2007-11 under Goerge O’Leary. Jonathan Wallace, the Jayhawks’ running backs coach, played for Malzahn at Auburn and was also a graduate assistant during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
UCF co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Herb Hand, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Brian Blackmon and defensive analyst Charles Moore were also on staff with Wallace at Auburn.
Additionally, Knights co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach David Gibbs was the defensive backs coach at Kansas for two seasons in 1995 and 1996. Moore also spent a season in Lawrence as a special teams analyst and UCF strength and conditioning coach Chris Dawson worked at Kansas for six seasons from 2003-08.
THROWING THE BALL DOWNFIELD
One of the points of emphasis for the Knights offense this season under first-year offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw was to throw the football down the field. UCF ranks ninth nationally and leads the Big 12 in passing yards per completion with 15.79.
Timmy McClain is third nationally in passing yards per completion with 17.44.
QUICK STRIKE
UCF took just 12 offensive seconds to score against Baylor, as running back Johnny Richardson took the opening handoff from McClain and raced 79 yards to the end zone for his first touchdown of the season. It marked the first time the Knights have scored on their first offensive snap since A.J. Guyton’s 76-yard TD reception at Rice on Oct. 24, 2009.
Richardson’s 79-yard rush is the longest play in the Big 12 this season and also the longest rush of his career. That play marked the longest rush by a UCF player since Adrian Killians secured his own 79-yard touchdown rush at Navy on Oct. 21, 2017.
The Lake Wales, Florida, native finished the game with 105 rushing yards to surpass 100 yards for the second time this season. Richardson is one of six Big 12 players with more than one 100-yard rushing performance this year.
JOHNSON ECLIPSES 400 TACKLES
Fifth-year linebacker Jason Johnson tallied 15 tackles in last Saturday’s game against Baylor to eclipse 400 career tackles. The Chicago native now owns 405 career tackles, including 228 solo tackles and 177 assisted tackles.
Johnson, who spent his first three seasons at Eastern Illinois before transferring to UCF, recorded 59 tackles as a freshman, 66 as a sophomore and 110 as a junior. In his first season in the Black and Gold, Johnson set a career high with 126 tackles, which ranked 13th nationally and marked the ninth most in a single season in program history.
Johnson leads the team and is second in the Big 12 with 44 tackles.
OFF TO THE RACES
Sophomore defensive back Demari Henderson recorded the Knights’ first forced fumble and fumble recovery in the Baylor game, as he ripped the football away from Dominic Richardson and raced 87 yards down the field for a touchdown. It marked the first time UCF has returned a fumble for a touchdown since Tre’mon Morris-Brash accomplished the feat against Marshall on Dec. 23, 2019.
MALZAHN APPROACHING 100 CAREER WINS
Now in his third season as UCF head coach, Gus Malzahn is just two wins shy of 100 for his career. His 98 victories are the fourth most among active coaches in the Big 12 Conference.
Big 12 Head Coaching Wins
1. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State, 158-77
Lance Leipold, Kansas, 158-57
3. Chris Klieman, Kansas State, 105-34
4. Gus Malzahn, UCF, 98-49
5. Dana Holgorsen, Houston, 90-64
Additionally, Malzahn’s .667 career winning percentage (98-49) ranks among the nation’s top 20 active coaches.
UCF NO STRANGER TO NCAA STAT LEADERS
UCF ranks in the top 25 in all four major categories this week in NCAA statistics: fifth nationally in total offense (545.8 yards per game), third in the country in rushing (255.2), 24th in passing (290.8) and 19th in scoring (37.6).
But the Knights are no strangers to qualifying among the nation’s top offenses and rushing and passing attacks. Here’s a recent history of where UCF has landed in final NCAA stat numbers and rankings (2023 numbers are this week’s NCAA standings):
Total Offense
2023 5th 545.8
2020 2nd 568.1
2019 2nd 540.5
2018 5th 522.7
2017 5th 530.5
Rushing
2023 3rd 255.2
2022 9th 228.4
2019 19th 223.8
2018 8th 265.2
Passing
2023 24th 290.6
2020 4th 357.4
2019 8th 316.8
2017 10th 331.8
Scoring
2023 19th 37.6
2020 8th 42.2
2019 5th 43.5
2018 6th 43.2
2017 1st 48.2