ORLANDO – Fans received their first glimpse of the 2024 UCF football team Friday night in the program’s annual Knights vs. ‘Nauts Spring Game held at FBC Mortgage Stadium. For the second consecutive year, the ‘Nauts soared past the Knights to earn the win, 26-7.
"First of all, I’m really pleased with our crowd. We had a great crowd and I think they enjoyed it. We played a half of football, there was some good and some things that we can do better, but the guys were hustling. We had a really good spring from a head coach’s standpoint."
Gus MalzahnUCF Football Head CoachIn a non-traditional spring game, the Knights played two 12-minute quarters before finishing with several player skill challenges in the second half.
The 'Nauts edged the Knights 26-7 with players able to score points from the skill challenges to factor into the final tally.
In his first action in front of Knight and ‘Naut Nation, quarterback KJ Jefferson passed for 271 yards and two touchdowns to lead the ‘Nauts to victory. He connected with sophomore tight end Randy Pittman for a 10-yard touchdown reception on the opening drive of the game.
A few minutes later, Jefferson found wide receiver Jarrad Baker, who reeled in the pass and raced down the sideline 71 yards for the touchdown to give the ‘Nauts a 14-0 advantage. Baker finished the day with three catches for 88 yards with a score.
Junior Xavier Townsend led both teams in receiving yards with 100 on six catches, including a 28-yard long. Chauncey Magwood caught a pass from Jefferson and scampered 70 yards before he was tackled near the goal line in a great defensive effort by Terrell Jackson.
The running backs also looked good in the spring game with newcomer Myles Montgomery rushing five times for 34 yards, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. Fifth year Johnny Richardson found the end zone in the game with a two-yard rushing TD and tallied 31 rushing yards, compiling a 7.8 ypc.
Defensively, transfer Bryon Threats led all players with five tackles and Deshawn Pace had four stops. Xe’ree Alexander logged four tackles, while Ladarius Tennison and Camden Vining each tallied three.
“You saw our defense being a lot more aggressive and doing some really good things. I thought our quarterbacks really made some plays and it’s good for our defense to see the quarterbacks go live."
Gus MalzahnUCF Football Head CoachAfter playing two quarters of football, UCF turned its attention to the skill challenges with running back RJ Harvey winning the strongest arm competition with a 69-yard throw. Richardson claimed the title as the fastest on the team, edging out freshman Chasen Johnson and Christian Peterson in the 40-yard dash.
Fans were treated to the offensive and defensive lineman catching punts or at least attempting to do so, as some were more successful than the others. The final event of the night saw Knightro riding Pegasus in a race against Eric DeSalvo, UCF’s Associate Athletics Director for #Content. Well, there’s no question who won that race.
UCF opens the 2024 football season at home against New Hampshire on Thursday, Aug. 29. That’s right, only 139 more days until the Knights are back in action at FBC Mortgage Stadium.