GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Sept. 26
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: FS1
TV Talent: Dan Hellie (PxP), Robert Smith (Analyst)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Radio Talent: Marc Daniels (PxP), Gary Parris (Analyst), Scott Adams (Sideline)
Spanish Radio: UCFKnights.com, YouTube.com/UCFKnights
Spanish Radio Talent: Carlos Bohorquez (PxP), Miguel Parra (Analyst)
Acrisure Bounce House
Big 12 Opener
UCF Knights
2-1 (0-0 Big 12)
TCU Horned Frogs
2-1 (0-0 Big 12)
A WIN WOULD...
- Be better than a loss
- Keep UCF atop the state of Florida in wins since 2017
- Give UCF a 3-1 start for the fifth straight season
- Improve UCF to 2-0 all-time against TCU
- Give UCF a 1-0 start to Big 12 play for the second time
1ST AND 10
UCF PREVAILS IN TALE OF TWO HALVES
- The Knights finished non-conference play with a 44-30 victory over Georgia State. UCF improved to 15-0 under Coach Frost when scoring 40+ points.
- The Black and Gold trailed at the half and were outgained in yardage 323-153 in the first half. UCF flipped the script though, allowing just six points in the second half and outgained Georgia State 237-162, scoring 24 points in the process.
- UCF opened the second half with a quick 63-yard touchdown run from Duke Watson on the first play of the third quarter to shift the momentum
WATSON RUNNING WILD EARLY
- In just three games at UCF, Duke Watson has doubled his total of 100+ yard games, earning two 100+ yard outings already in 2026
- The Louisville transfer put on a show in Week 3 against Georgia State, rushing for a career-best 177 yards while tying a career-high with 14 carries, scoring two touchdowns in the 44-30 win. The math averages out to 12.6 yards per carry for Watson's performance against the Panthers, registering the second-highest YPC mark in program history, behind only Latavius Murray who averaged 13.27 yards per rush on Nov. 20, 2010 in a 61-14 win at Tulane.
- Watson debuted with a 110-yard outing against Bethune-Cookman in Week 1
- The Forsyth, Ga. native led the nation with 8.9 yards per carry in his freshman season of 2024 at Louisville. Heading into Week 4 vs. TCU, Watson is averaging 11.0 yards per carry but doesn't qualify to be ranked nationally, needing to average 10 rushes per game, and currently sits at 9.0.
- Entering Week 4, Watson ranks 21st in FBS in rushing yards, boasting 297
DEMARI JOINS EXCLUSIVE CLUB WITH TWO INTERCEPTIONS
- UCF defensive back Demari Henderson earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors with two interceptions against Georgia State with both coming in the fourth quarter, sealing the Knights' 44-30 win
- Henderson, a UCF Knight for his entire career, had a two-interception game earlier in his career, doing so against then-No. 15 Oklahoma State in a 45-3 win Nov. 11, 2023, also earning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors
- Henderson’s pair of picks puts him in rare company, becoming one of four players to have two multi-interception games. The last player to do it was in 2008 when Sha’reff Rashad snagged two interceptions on Oct. 11 and Nov. 15 of the same season. Joe Burnett had his pair of two pick games Oct. 21, 2005 and Nov. 17, 2007. The first Knight to accomplish the feat was Keith Evans, who did so Oct. 25, 1986 and Sept. 2, 1988.
- A Sanford, Fla. native, Henderson is the second Knight to earn multiple weekly awards from UCF's time in the Big 12, joining running back RJ Harvey who was tabbed as Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week twice, once in 2023 and then again in 2024
- Henderson boasts six career interceptions following the Georgia State game
OPENING BIG 12 PLAY AT HOME
- For the first time in its four seasons in the Big 12 Conference, UCF will open conference play with a home game against TCU.
- Saturday marks the second time the Knights have begun league play against TCU, the previous coming in 2024, a 35-34 win in Fort Worth, erasing a 21-point deficit to tie the biggest comeback in program history
- The Knights will play five home games in BIg 12 play this season
FOUR FOES MAKE FIRST TRIP TO BOUNCE HOUSE
- UCF will welcome four teams making their inaugural trips to face the Knights during the 20th season of Acrisure Bounce House, TCU being one of them. It is TCU's first game in the state of Florida since 2003, a 13-10 win at South Florida. Overall, TCU is 4-5 in road games in Florida, with wins over South Florida, Florida State and Miami; all five losses are to Miami.
- Georgia State was another of the four first-timers to play a true road game at UCF, but had been to Orlando before, playing two bowl games in downtown Orlando at Camping World Stadium in the Cure Bowl, falling to San Jose State 27-16 in 2015 before beating Western Kentucky 27-17 in 2017.
- Two more Big 12 foes will play their first games in Acrisure Bounce House which are Arizona State and Iowa State, UCF's two final home games of 2026.
- Iowa State has played in Orlando before, earning a 42-41 victory over then-No. 15 Miami in the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl at Camping World Stadium.
- Arizona State has never played a game in Orlando
RUNNING BACK ROOM IS UCFast
- Through three games, the UCF running back room has proved to be UCFast (said UCF-Fast), ranking 27th in FBS in rushing yards per game, averaging 228 yards a contest. That number is up significantly from 2025 where the Knights rushed for 158 yards per game, ranking 67th in FBS.
- In his fourth season at UCF (year two of second stint), head coach Scott Frost has seen his offenses rush for 250+ yards eight times, two of which came this season. Both times were 300+ yard rushing games for the Black and Gold, making those outings two of just four occurances in Frost's four seasons.
- The RB room is virtually brand new this season, returning just 95 rush yards
- Transfers Duke Watson (from Louisville) and Landen Chambers (from Central Arkansas) have added an immediate spark, accounting for 61% of UCF's rushing yards through three games.
- Redshirt freshman Taevion Swint has been a contributor as well in his first season of collegiate action after going down with an injury early in fall camp in his true freshman season. Walk-on turned scholarship Agyeman Addae also contributes and accounted for 50 of UCF's 95 returning rush yards from a season ago.
NO FLY ZONE
- Through three games, UCF's pass defense ranks ninth in the Big 12 with a 189.3 passing yards per game clip. While not highly ranked nationally early in 2026, the number is close to an impressive mark posted last season when the Knights finished 2025 ranking third in the Big 12 and 22nd in the FBS in passing defense, allowing 185.1 passing yards per game.
- Last season's 185.1 clip was the third-lowest pass yards allowed per contest mark in UCF's FBS history and the best since 2001, which is UCF's FBS record 178.0 clip
- Through three games, UCF already boasts four interceptions after recording nine in each of the last two seasons
- The Knights return four starters in the secondary from last year's stout pass defense, welcoming back cornerbacks Jayden Bellamy and Antione Jackson, safety Demari Henderson and nickel Braeden Marshall
DYLAN THE DIFFERENCE MAKER
- TE Dylan Wade made a name for himself in his first season as a Knight in 2025, posting a team-best five receiving touchdowns while finishing second on the team in receiving yards (523) and receptions (43). All three marks were single-season UCF records in its FBS era for the tight end position
- With single-season records in hands, Wade is in range to set UCF FBS career-highs for a tight end. He's No. 5 in receiving yards, as UCF's leader is Jordan Akins with 1,149 career receiving yards. Wade needs four touchdowns to pass Akins for UCF's FBS leader in touchdowns by a tight end, as Akins collected eight scores from 2014-17. Wade entered the season tied for fifth in catches by a tight end in UCF's FBS era.
- Wade put on a show down the stretch of 2025, posting 145 receiving yards and two touchdowns on four catches in UCF's home finale against Oklahoma State. He scored four touchdowns over the final three games.
STAYING POWER: CAREER-LONG KNIGHTS
- A handful of Knights that are in their fourth or fifth seasons on the 2026 roster that have been at UCF for their entire careers, with three residing in Orlando for all five seasons while five are entering their fourth season as members of the Black and Gold
- DB Demari Henderson, TE Thomas Wadsworth and DB Nicholas Antione all enter their fifth seasons with the Knights
- DB Braeden Marshall and EDGE Isaiah Nixon enter their fourth season as a Knight while walk-ons Quentin Hatch, Matthew Prigmore and Ethan Higgins also have been with the squad for a quartet of seasons
WINS SINCE 2017
- The Knights have compiled 76 wins since 2017, which is tied for the most in the state of Florida and is third-most in the Big 12. UCF is tied for 20th nationally over that span, which includes a perfect 13-0 in 2017, 12 wins in 2018 and 10 in 2019.
- In the Big 12, UCF trails only BYU and Utah, who have 78 and 77, respectively. The Black and Gold are ahead of Cincinnati, who have 75 wins since 2017
- In Florida, UCF and Miami are tied with 76 wins since 2017, followed by Florida (65), Florida State (57), Florida Atlantic (55) and South Florida (51)