FIRST AND 10
- For the fourth consecutive year, UCF will open its season on a Thursday night at home, as the Knights welcome New Hampshire to Orlando on Aug. 29. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. inside FBC Mortgage Stadium in the first meeting between the programs, and the contest will air live on ESPN+.
- UCF is one of just two schools to open each of the last four seasons on a Thursday. The Knights join Minnesota as the nation’s lone teams to begin the season on Thursdays the last four years.
- Now in his fourth season leading the Knights, UCF head coach Gus Malzahn is 3-0 in season openers with the Black and Gold and 11-1 overall in 12 seasons as a head coach. Malzahn was 7-1 at Auburn and 1-0 at Arkansas State, in addition to his mark with the Knights.
- As a program, UCF owns a 34-10 all-time record in season openers. The Knights have their first game of the year in each of the last eight seasons.
- UCF was the only Big 12 Conference newcomer to make a bowl game last season, as the Knights finished with six wins and earned an invitation to play in the Gasparilla Bowl. It marked a program-record eighth consecutive postseason bowl appearance, 11th in the last 12 seasons and the 15th in 19 years.
- Malzahn has seen his teams qualify for postseason bowl games in all 12 years he has been a head coach, including seven appearances in New Year’s Day games. Malzahn is one of four active coaches that has led his team to bowl eligibility in each of the past 12 seasons.
- Entering the 2024 season, Malzahn owns 101 career wins, as he is the only coach to ever win 100 career games as a high school coach and 100 career games at the FBS level as a collegiate head coach. UCF is one of just 13 programs to earn bowl eligibility in each of the past eight seasons and the only team from the state of Florida.
- The Knights head into 2024 with two new coordinators—offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Tim Harris Jr. and defensive coordinator Ted Roof, who won a National Championship alongside Malzahn in 2010 when the two coached at Auburn.
- UCF returns eight players who received all-conference recognition on at least one all-league team from a publication in 2023, including leading rusher RJ Harvey, second-leading receiver Kobe Hudson and third-leading tackler Lee Hunter.
- UCF ranked fourth nationally in rushing offense (228.2 per game) in 2023, the sixth straight season the Knights have averaged at least 196 rushing yards per game.
UCF IN SEASON OPENERS
UCF owns a 34-10 all-time mark in season openers and has won the first game of the season in each of the last eight years dating back to the 2016 season. Last year, the Knights opened the year with a 56-6 victory against Kent State.
MALZAHN IN SEASON OPENERS
In 12 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Gus Malzahn has compiled an 11-1 record in the opening game of the year with his program. He’s 3-0 as the head coach of the Knights and has won his last eight season openers dating back to the 2016 season at Auburn. His UCF teams have outscored opponents 148-47 in season openers.
OFFENSIVE GURU
Known as one of the best offensive minds in college football, not only have UCF offenses ranked among the nation’s best each season under head coach Gus Malzahn, but also several of the nation’s other top offenses have connections to Malzahn.
North Carolina, which ranked seventh nationally in total offense (491.2) last season, is led by offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, who spent the 2022 season as UCF’s offensive coordinator and also worked under Malzahn at Auburn. Texas State head coach GJ Kinne had the Bobcats ranked 15th in total offense last year. Kinne accepted the head coaching job after spending the 2021 season as the Knights’ offensive coordinator.
SMU, which was 16th in the nation in total offense in 2023, is coached by Rhett Lashlee, who Malzahn coached at Springdale High School in Arkansas and then later hired at Auburn.
FOCUSING ON THE RUN
The Knights were fourth nationally in rushing offense with 228.2 rushing yards per game last season. UCF rushed for 200 or more yards in nine of its 13 games in 2023, highlighted by 389 rushing yards in the season opener against Kent State, the seventh most by an FBS team during the season and the second-highest mark in the Big 12. The Knights have rushed for 140 or more yards in each game last season, one of only two teams nationally to accomplish the feat, joining West Virginia.
ELITE TERRITORY
UCF head coach Gus Malzahn is the only coach to ever win 100 career games as a high school coach and 100 career games at the FBS level as a collegiate head coach. Malzahn was the head coach at Hughes High School from 1992-1995, Shiloh Christian High School from 1996-2000 and Springdale High School from 2001-05 with all three located in the state of Arkansas.
Malzahn’s first collegiate head coaching job was at Arkansas State in 2012, before spending the next eight seasons at Auburn and then taking over at UCF.
UCF CONSISTENTLY AMONG NCAA STAT LEADERS
UCF finished the 2023 season ranked among the top 10 in two major offensive categories: eighth nationally in total offense (487.0 yards per game) and fourth in rushing offense (228.2).
The Knights are no strangers to qualifying among the nation’s top offenses, rushing and passing attacks. Here’s a recent history of where UCF has landed in final NCAA stat numbers and rankings:
Total Offense
2024 8th 487.0
2023 7th 492.2
2020 2nd 568.1
2019 2nd 540.5
2018 5th 522.7
2017 5th 530.5
Rushing
2024 4th 228.2
2023 4th 233.2
2022 9th 228.4
2019 19th 223.8
2018 8th 265.2
HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE
UCF’s all-time record of 82-26 (.759) ranks in the top 15 in the nation for best win percentage in a current home stadium. The Knights earned win No. 80 against Villanova.
Since 2017, the Knights are 39-6 in home games at FBC Mortgage Stadium.
The Knights finished last season with a 4-2 home record and were undefeated at home in 2021, marking the seventh time in UCF’s FBS era, the ninth overall, and the fourth time in five years.
UCF at Home
2017 (7-0)
W—Florida International (8-31-17)
W—Memphis
W—East Carolina
W—Austin Peay
W—Connecticut
W—#22 South Florida
W—#16 Memphis (AAC Championship)
2018 (8-0)
W—South Carolina State
W—Florida Atlantic
W—Pittsburgh
W—SMU
W—Temple
W—Navy
W—#19 Cincinnati
W—Memphis (AAC Championship)
2019 (6-0)
W—Florida A&M
W—Stanford
W—Connecticut
W—East Carolina
W—Houston
W—South Florida
2020 (2-2)
L—Tulsa (34-26, 10-3-20, ended 21-game home win streak)
W—Tulane
W—Temple
L—#7 Cincinnati (36-33, 11-21-20)
2021 (7-0)
W—Boise State
W—Bethune-Cookman
W—East Carolina
W—Memphis
W—Tulane
W—Connecticut
W—South Florida
2022 (5-2)
W—South Carolina State
L—Louisville, 20-14, 9-9-22, ended eight-game home win streak)
W—Georgia Tech
W—SMU
W—Temple
W—#20 Cincinnati
L—Navy
2023 (4-2)
W—Kent State
W—Villanova
L—Baylor
L—West Virginia
W —#15 Oklahoma State
W—Houston
KEEP AN EYE ON...
Seven UCF student-athletes appeared on a preseason watch list in advance of the start of the 2024 season. Below is a comprehensive list:
- RB RJ Harvey (Doak Walker Award, Maxwell Award)
- WR Kobe Hudson (Biletnikoff Award)
- DT Lee Hunter (Outland Trophy, Bednarik Award, Lombardi Trophy, Bronko Nagurski Trophy)
- QB KJ Jefferson (Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Manning Award)
- OL Caden Kitler (Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award)
- WR Xavier Townsend (Paul Hornung Award)
- DB William Wells (Wuerffel Trophy)
NEW COORDINATORS, NEW COACHES
UCF’s offense and defense could look different in 2024, as the Knights have new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Tim Harris Jr. returns to the Black and Gold to help direct the offense after spending the 2023 season at Miami. He spent the 2021-22 seasons on staff with the Knights in Malzahn’s first two seasons.
Ted Roof, who won a national championship with Malzahn when the two were coordinators at Auburn in 2010, takes over the defense for the season. Additionally, Trovon Reed was hired as cornerbacks coach in January 2024.
LEADING THE CHARGE
Quarterback KJ Jefferson, running back RJ Harvey, offensive lineman Marcellus Marshall and linebacker Ethan Barr have been voted team captains of the 2024 UCF football quad. The selections mark the first time that each captain has been a transfer student-athlete.
SENIOR BOWL WATCH LIST
Eleven UCF football standouts—defensive back Brandon Adams, defensive tackle Ricky Barber, running back Peny Boone, running back RJ Harvey, wide receiver Kobe Hudson, defensive lineman Lee Hunter, quarterback KJ Jefferson, defensive end Malachi Lawrence, offensive lineman Marcellus Marshall, defensive back Mac McWilliams and linebacker Deshawn Pace — were named to the watch list for the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl All-Star Game.
Held annually in Mobile, Alabama, the 2025 game is slated for Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025 at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the South Alabama campus.