UCF Hosts North Carolina A&T for First Saturday Tilt of 2025

• After posting the best two-year turnaround in the recent history of college football back in 2016 and 2017, the second first game of Scott Frost's UCF career resulted in a victory, beating Jacksonville State 17-10.
• The Knights' Tayven Jackson tossed a 33-yard strike to DJ Black near the endzone on 3rd and 9 with 1:03 left to play for the game-winning touchdown
• A two-hour, seven-minute weather delay paused the game with 10:45 left in the second quarter. UCF's starting quarterback Cam Fancher was injured just before the weather delay in a 0-0 game.
• The game remained scoreless into the half, just the sixth time in Big 12 history and first since Ohio and Iowa State in 2023.
• In three season openers under Frost, UCF has shut out its opponent in seven of 12 possible quarters. Frost improved to 3-0 in openers as a Knight

• The two quarterbacks to play in UCF's opener totaled 314 passing yards. UCF didn't pass for over 300 yards at any point last season; the last time before 2025's opener was the third game of the 2023 season, tallying 349 vs. Villanova
• Tayven Jackson accounted for 282 passing yards vs. Jacksonville State, the second highest total of his career behind his career-best 299.
• As of Sunday, Jackson graded out as the fourth best QB performance in the Big 12

• 1 UCF earned its 300th victory in program history in the season opener.
• It took the Knights 542 games to reach the mark, making them the second-fastest of the Power 4 teams in Florida (Florida State, 479; UCF, 542; Miami, 552; Florida, 560)
• Additionally, it makes UCF the seventh-fastest to reach that mark out of members in the Big 12 Conference (Arizona, 463; Utah, 466; Colorado, 483; Arizona State, 494; West Virginia, 501; TCU, 526; UCF, 542; Kansas and Texas Tech, 547; Baylor, 560; Houston, 574; BYU, 598; Cincinnati, 604; Iowa State, 661; Oklahoma State, 673; Kansas State, 815)

• With the opening night victory, Coach Frost has won 14 straight games as UCF's head coach after going 13-0 in 2017, putting him among some of the nation's elite coaches in terms of consecutive victories leading a school.
• The victory over Jacksonville State tied him with Florida State's Mike Norvell and Oregon's Dan Lanning. Norvell strung together 14 across the 2022 and 2023 seasons while Lanning did it through 2023 and 2024.
• A UCF win against North Carolina A&T would tie Frost with Jim Harbaugh and the 15 victories Michigan compiled in its 2023 championship season. Frost and the Knights would have to put together another magical season to catch Kirby Smart who ripped off 29 straight wins from 2021-23 at Georgia.

• DJ Black, who was on the receiving end of the game-winning touchdown to lift UCF to a 17-10 victory, earned the start in his first game in the Power 4
• Last season, Black was a member of Limestone, a Division II program that closed the football program down last season. Black plastered his name all over the statsheet, scoring 11 touchdowns and recording 939 receiving yards.
• Offensive lineman Owen Spell was also at Limestone with Black in 2024

• In what is technically his third year at the helm of the Knights and the first in his second stint, over half of Frost's roster is new to UCF. Officially, 63 of the 112 players on the squad will be making their debut on the roster.
• Of the 63 newcomers, 36 are transfers from other D-I institutions. Another six transfers are from football programs throughout other levels while two are former Division I basketball players and one is a former MiLB pitcher.
• A class of 18 true freshmen make up the remaining newcomers

• The return of Scott Frost as UCF's head coach reignites some trends from his first tenure, showcasing where the program was at 2017's end
• UCF outscored their opponents 627-329 in 2017, scoring 30 points or more in all 13 victories. The Knights' offense ranked No. 1 in the nation, averaging 48.2 points per game. UCF's high-powered offense continued even after Frost had departed, as the Black and Gold tacked on 18 more consecutive games scoring 30 points or more.
• UCF compiled 500+ yards of offense in eight of their 13 wins in 2017

• The opening night victory against Jacksonville State was the 10th consecutive win for the Knights in their first game of the season, a trend Frost started as UCF's head coach in 2016 with a 38-0 win over South Carolina State
• Beyond that, UCF has now started 1-0 in 19 of the last 21 seasons and has won 21 of 31 openers since becoming an FBS program to begin the 1996 season
• The Knights have won 16 of 19 home openers at Acrisure Bounce House, including five in a row and nine of the last 10

• The Knights are one of 30 FBS programs that have a new head coach; 28 of which are completely new while the other two were elevated from interim.
• UCF will face three of those 30 as well as an additional opponent, North Carolina A&T of the FCS. The Knights will host the four: Charles Kelly with Jacksonville State (Aug. 28), Shawn Gibbs with N.C. A&T (Sep. 6), Bill Belichick with North Carolina (Sep. 20) and Rich Rodriguez with West Virginia (Oct. 18).
• Of the new crop this year, Frost and Rodriguez are the only pair of FBS head coaches that have coached at a school, left and then returned to the same place later. Including Frost, there are 16 sitting head coaches across all levels to have coached at a place, left and then returned. (Full list can be found in Knight Notes, along with more in depth information). There are well over 200 head coaches historically across all levels who have a similar path.

• In addition to its head coach, there is plenty of new in UCF football in 2025
• The Knights will suit up in fresh uniforms, featuring the "Knighted Eras" number font. The font consists of four different eras of UCF football tied into one bigger and bolder look for the numbers (more in Knight Notes).
• New grass was planted in the offseason, replacing the original field that was installed in 2007. The new grass is TifTuf ® Bermudagrass.
• Roth Tower looks a little different this season as it is undergoing construction to be completed in time for the 2026 season

ADDITIONAL KNIGHT NOTES