UCF to Battle Belichick-Led Tar Heels in Non-Conference Finale

• Jaden Nixon, the redshirt senior running back posted a memorable performance in the win over N.C. A&T. He returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a game-opening touchdown. His long sprints didn't stop there as he earned 87- and 66-yard touchdown rushes in the game, compiling 156 rushing yards on the night. The 87-yard rush tied the third longest run from scrimmage in program history.
• The kickoff return for a touchdown was the second of Nixon's career and the first by a Knight since Mike Hughes did so in the War On I-4 game of 2017, which ended up being the game winner. It was the first opening kickoff return by a Knight since 2010 when Quincy McDuffie did it at Tulane.
• Nixon compiled 252 all-purpose yards and 18 points in the 68-7 win. The last UCF player to tally over 250 all-purpose yards was wide receiver Ryan O’Keefe, who tallied 251 in the Gasparilla Bowl against Florida on Dec. 23, 2021.
• Nixon became the fourth player in UCF's FBS history to tally a kickoff return for a touchdown and an offensive score in the same game (last 2012).

• More Knights than just Nixon put on a show in UCF's 68-7 victory in week two. Tayven Jackson and Jacurri Brown each had two rushing touchdowns of their own while Stacy Gage rushed for his first career touchdown, going 23 yards.
• The Knights rushed for seven touchdowns, one shy of tying a program record for rushing touchdowns in a single game
• Nixon and Brown both surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark, the first time a pair of Knights have done that since Ryan O'Keefe and Isiah Bowser did so in the Gasparilla Bowl against Florida on Dec. 23, 2021.

• UCF scored three different ways against N.C. A&T, earning kick return, defensive and offensive touchdowns all within the first quarter.
• This first-quarter frenzy marked a rare trifecta that UCF last accomplished in a full game on Oct. 28, 2017 against Austin Peay. Doing it all within the first quarter? That hadn’t happened since Oct. 1, 2016, when Frost’s first UCF squad pulled off a score in all three categories against East Carolina, although the defensive score was a safety.

• While Scott Frost and Bill Belichick have not faced each other on the college gridiron, they are familiar with one another. Frost was a defensive back in the NFL for the New York Jets during the 1998 and 1999 seasons while Belichick was the defensive coordinator.
• Mike Dawson, UCF's edge rushing coach, worked at Nebraska alongside then-defensive coordinator Bob Diaco in 2017; Diaco is on staff with UNC as the defensive line coach. UCF faced Diaco while he was head coach of UConn from 2014-16, and attempted to start the "Civil Conflict" rivalry.

• As Scott Frost's first run as UCF's head football coach was set to get started, UCF and UNC agreed to a home-and-home, announced Aug. 10, 2016.
• The first scheduled meeting was set to be in Chapel Hill in 2018, but with Hurricane Florence bearing down on the Carolinas, the game was canceled
• UCF was set to host UNC in 2020, but the ACC implemented a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, canceling the contest.
• Now, in Frost's second run at UCF, the two teams will finally meet on the gridiron, with a home-and-home scheduled for Orlando in 2025 and Chapel Hill in 2027

• With two victories to open the season, Coach Frost has won 15 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 N.C. A&T tied him with Jim Harbaugh's 2023 streak of 15 victories with Michigan while passing Oregon's Dan Lanning who had 14 through the 2023 and 2024 campaigns. A victory over North Carolina would tie Frost with Nick Saban and Alabama, who pieced together 16 straight wins from the Jan. 1, 2017 - Dec. 29, 2018.

• UCF's defense has been posting doughnuts on the scoreboard so far this season, shutting out its opponents in five of eight quarters through the first two games
• Opponents haven't scored on UCF in the first half to this point and have only scored touchdowns during the fourth quarter
• Three FBS teams have not allowed a point in the first half of games this season and all three play in the Big 12 (BYU, Texas Tech & UCF).

• 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 began the season with four new head coaches on the schedule. The Knights have already topped Charles Kelly of Jacksonville State, Shawn Gibbs of N.C. A&T (FCS) and are set to face Bill Belichick with North Carolina (Sep. 20) and Rich Rodriguez with West Virginia (Oct. 18). All games are/were at home.
• 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.

• 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)

• 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

SAME FACE, NEW PLACE

• North Carolina's Bill Belichick is in his first season as a collegiate head coach after spending 29 seasons at the helm of two NFL franchises, the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots.
• Despite a remarkable 333-178 career NFL head coaching record, Belichick has a losing mark in the state of Florida, going 14-16 in the Sunshine State (9-15 in MIA, 2-0 in TB, 2-2 in JAX, 1-0 in SB in FL).

FEELING TRENDY

• 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.
• So far in 2025, UCF has 500+ yards of offense in one of its two games, and scored more than 30 points in that game
• When looking at 2016-17 and the 2025 season, Frost's UCF teams have posted 30 or more points in 19 of his 28 games at the helm and has scored 24 or more points in 24 of the 28. Additionally, Frost's UCF squads have tallied 500+ yards of offense 10 times across his three seasons in Black and Gold.

WINS SINCE 2017

• The Knights have compiled the most wins since 2017 than anyone in the Big 12 Conference, posting 71 victories from 2017-present. Cincinnati (67), Oklahoma State (66), Utah (66) and BYU (65) join the top 25 in wins since 2017.
• The Black and Gold are tied for 15th nationally in wins since the start of the 2017 season, level with Iowa who also has 71. and one behind Texas with 72. UCF got the streak going by posting 13 wins in 2017, 12 victories in 2018 and 10 in 2019.
• The Knights slot in among the nation's elite, as Georgia leads the way with 100, followed by Alabama (98), Ohio State (95), Clemson (92), Notre Dame (87), Oklahoma (81), Oregon (80), Michigan and Penn State (79), LSU (77), Boise State (76), Memphis (75), Appalachian State (74), Texas (72), while sitting tied with Iowa. UCF is ahead of Army and Louisiana (69), SMU and Washington (68), Cincinnati and Fresno State (67), Oklahoma State and Utah (66) and BYU, Iowa State, Marshall, NC State, Toledo and Wisconsin (65) to round out the top 25. UCF is also ahead of Texas A&M and Troy (64), Miami and TCU (63).

POINTS SINCE 2017

• The Knights sit seventh in the FBS in most points scored since 2017, putting 3,907 points on the scoreboard.
• UCF's points are the most by a current Big 12 program over that time, the next closest is Oklahoma State who sit 17th with 3,441. Other opponents on UCF's schedule this season in the top 25 in points since 2017 include North Carolina and Texas Tech, both sitting tied for 20th with 3,409 points.
• The Black and Gold sit behind Alabama (4,622), Ohio State (4,411), Oklahoma (4,262), Georgia (4,130), Clemson (4,050), and Memphis (4,007).
• UCF is sixth in points from touchdowns, registering 515

HISTORY VS. PAST NO. 1

• While UCF has faced the No. 1 team in the nation head-to-head just once, the Knights have a streak of playing historic programs that at some point in the program's history have reached a No. 1 ranking. Including 2025, the Knights have five consecutive regular seasons of playing one of those teams. If bowl games are included, the streak extends all the way back to Scott Frost's first year with the Knights, 2016.
• Since 2006, the only season that didn't include a previous No. 1 in the regular season or bowl game was 2015
• The Knights' 2025 schedule sees BYU and North Carolina on that list, with BYU earning four weeks at No. 1, most recently in 1984 while North Carolina earned one number one ranking in 1948. Other years/teams in the streak: 2024 saw Colorado (7 weeks, last 1990), Florida (41 weeks, last 2009) and TCU (2 weeks, last 1938); 2023 saw Oklahoma (101 weeks, last 2011); 2022 and 2021 saw SMU (2 weeks, last 1950).
• If bowls are included, the 2020 season saw UCF match up with BYU in the Boca Raton Bowl. Keeping the streak alive: 2019 saw Pitt (21 weeks, last 1982); 2018 saw Pitt, SMU and LSU in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl (38 weeks, last 2019); 2017 saw Maryland (6 weeks, last 1955), SMU, and Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (9 weeks, last 2010); 2016 saw Michigan (36 weeks, last 2024) and Maryland.