ORLANDO – Eleven members of the UCF football team were honored by the Big 12 Conference with the release of the 2025 Football Awards. A trio of Knights earned a spot on the either the All-Big First Team or Third Team while a group of Knights earned honorable mention recognition.
Edge rusher Malachi Lawrence headlined the group with an All-Big 12 First Team nod, giving UCF four First Team honorees in its three seasons in the Big 12. Linebacker Cole Kozlowski and kicker Noe Ruelas also garnered All-Big 12 honors, checking in on the Third Team.
Lawrence was tabbed as an honorable mention for Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year, while Cole Kozlowski was named honorable mention for Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and Noe Ruelas earned an honorable mention nod for Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year.
Lawrence wraps up his career having spent the entirety of it as a Knight, beginning his journey in 2021 and helping UCF in its transition to the Big 12. He tallied 20 sacks over his tenure, good enough to earn the No. 10 spot on UCF’s career sacks list. Heading into the final game of the 2025 campaign, Lawrence was one of just four players in the FBS who recorded five or more sacks in each of the past three seasons.
Kozlowski, who joined the Black and Gold after three seasons at Colgate, was second on the team in total tackles with 82 while tallying 7.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, three pass breakups and a forced fumble. He earned a season-high 11 tackles in back-to-back games, doing so against West Virginia and at Baylor.
Ruelas made history in his lone season in Orlando, becoming the first Knight in UCF’s FBS history to make three field goals from beyond 50 yards, hitting from 54 to tie his career long as well as from 53 and 51. He finished the regular season with the best field goal percentage in the Big 12 and the 15th best in the nation at 88.2%, making 15-of-17 field goals. Ruelas earned as a Lou Groza semifinalist, being named one of the top 20 kickers in the country.
With the three All-Big 12 Team honorees this season, UCF now boasts eight across the First, Second and Third teams in the program’s three seasons in the Big 12.
Eight Knights earned All-Big 12 honorable mention; they are WR Duane Thomas Jr., TE Dylan Wade, LB Lewis Carter, DT RJ Jackson, EDGE Nyjalik Kelly, DB Jayden Bellamy, DB Phillip Dunnam and KR Jaden Nixon.
Thomas tallied the most receptions and yards on the team this season, hauling in 53 catches and 528 yards. Wade was right behind him with 523 yards, which stands as the most in a single season for a tight end in UCF’s FBS history, along with his five touchdowns and 43 catches.
On the defensive side of the ball, Carter led the Knights in tackles with 92 with four of them for loss and two of them being sacks. Jackson tallied 33 tackles, 2.5 for loss and recorded 1.5 sacks. Kelly had two strip sacks, both which resulted in touchdowns while tallying a team-high eight quarterback hurries, 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. Bellamy led the team with eight pass breakups and snagged an interception. Dunnam snagged three picks during the game against Houston, a new UCF single game record; he earned a pair of pass breakups and was the team’s fourth leading tackler with 60, including three for loss.
UCF’s eight on the All-Big 12 Honorable Mention list join the 15 from the past two seasons.
The full list of the 2025 Big 12 Football awards can be found here.