Football Set for Second Straight Top 25 Road Tilt at #18 Oklahoma State

• The Knights jumped out to a 10-0 first half lead and eventually 17-0 in the third quarter at No. 20 Houston, but saw Cougars' QB Conner Weigman scamper for three touchdown runs in the second half to top UCF 27-17
• UCF's defense was an impenetrable in the first half. The Knights shutdown Houston's opening drive, not allowing an opponent to score on their first drive in any game this season. Following the opening stop, UCF earned three straight redzone stops, coming up with a pair of 4th down denials from the three-yard line, followed by Jayden Williams forcing a fumble on a catch and run inside the 10-yard line.
• UCF was the first team to shutout Houston in the first quarter this season and were also the first team to shutout Houston in the first half since Sept. 28, 2024, when the Cougars fell 20-0 to No. 18/19 Iowa State
• With 101 receiving yards in the contest, Josh Derry boasts earned his 10th career game with 100+ receiving yards

• RB Duke Watson enters Week 6 boasting 8.2 yards per carry, which puts him third in the nation; his freshman season saw him lead the nation in rushing at 8.9 yards per carry in 2024 at Louisville
• Watson ranks third in the Big 12 in most rushing plays of 10+ yards this season, tallying 15; he ranks 11th nationally
• Watson has a pair of 100+ yard rushing performances this season after having a total of two over his first two collegiate seasons
• The Forsyth, Ga. native 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 win. The 12.6 yards per carry for Watson's performance against the Panthers was the second-highest yards per carry 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.

• UCF has lost its two games against ranked competition, and have been right in each game, losing by a combined 15 points across the two contests
• The Knights lost 12-7 at Pittsburgh in a torrential downpour, who are now 5-0 and No. 25/24 in this week's AP/Coaches polls. UCF had a chance to win on its final drive but fell just short in the non-conference road game.
• UCF had a 17-0 lead in its loss at No. 20 Houston but couldn't contain QB Conner Weigman's ground attack, becoming the first Cougar to rush for three touchdowns in a game since 2023, leading Houston's comeback, falling 27-17

• UCF has snatched six interceptions so far this season which is tied for 11th in the country and second in the Big 12; the FBS leader is New Mexico with 12
• The Knights had just nine interceptions in each of the last two seasons
• UCF returned four starters in the secondary from last year's defense: CB Jayden Bellamy, CB Antione Jackson, S Demari Henderson and NKL Braeden Marshall
• UCF 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 clip was the third-lowest passing yards allowed per contest mark in UCF's FBS history and the best since 2001, which is UCF's FBS record 178.0 clip. So far in 2026, UCF has surrendered an average of 223.4 passing yards per game but have earned more interceptions.

• As a coach with a new team himself last season, Scott Frost and the Knights finished a perfect 5-0 against teams with a new/interim coach during 2025
• The Black and Gold are slated to face the first of two programs with new head coaches in 2026, visiting Oklahoma State under the direction of Eric Morris before hosting Iowa State and Jimmy Rogers Nov. 20
• The teams and their new coach the Knights topped in 2025 were: Jacksonville St./Charles Kelly; N.C. A&T (FCS)/Shawn Gibbs; North Carolina/Bill Belichick; West Virginia/Rich Rodriguez; interim Doug Meacham/Oklahoma State. All games were at home and decided by a margin of 181-53.
• UCF was one of 30 FBS teams that started 2025 with a new head coach; 28 of which were brand new while two were elevated from interim; Of the crop, Frost and West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez were the only two to coach at a school, leave, and return as head coach again

• After it's game against No. 20 Houston, UCF is set to face an additional two straight ranked opponents, visiting No. 18 Oklahoma State and hosting No. 8 BYU following the Knights' bye week
• Should the rankings hold, it would be the first time UCF faces three consecutive ranked oppoenents since 2017 when the Knights beat No. 22/19 South Florida 49-42 in the final game of the regular season, No. 16/14 Memphis 62-55 in the AAC Championship and No. 7/8 Auburn 34-27 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl to finish 13-0 in 2017 to earn a National Championship
• UCF is one of seven FBS programs currently going through a stretch of at least three consecutive ranked opponents. They're joined by Alabama, Auburn, Colorado, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

• UCF ranks fourth in the Big 12 in rushing plays of 10+ yards this season with 32
• 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. 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.

• 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 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.

• The Knights earned a 21-13 win in their conference opener over TCU, starting 1-0 in Big 12 Conference play for the second time in UCF's four-year tenure.
• Oddly enough, the last time UCF started 1-0 in Big 12 play was also against TCU after the Knights erased a 21-point deficit in Fort Worth to win 35-34 in the 2024 conference opener. The 2026 game vs. TCU was the first time UCF opened its Big 12 slate at home.
• UCF forced four turnovers in this season's win over TCU, including an interception and a forced fumble by DB Jayden Bellamy. The forced fumble was on TCU's first drive of the game, giving UCF the ball back and setting up a touchdown.
• UCF's defense limited TCU to 33 rushing yards while EDGE Isaiah Nixon and DT Jeffson Lafontant tallied big days up front, chalking up 2.5 TFLs each
• QB Keyone Jenkins set a UCF record for passing completion percentage in a single game, going 19-for-20

• The Knights have compiled 77 wins since 2017, which is second most in the state of Florida and is third-most in the Big 12. UCF is tied for 22nd 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, 79 and 78, respectively. The Black and Gold are ahead of Cincinnati, who have 76 wins since 2017.
• In Florida, Miami (78) edged in front of UCF (77) in wins since 2017, followed by Florida (66), Florida State (59), Florida Atlantic (57) and South Florida (52)

ADDITIONAL NOTES

UCF LOOKING TO KEEP PERFECT RECORD AGAINST OKLAHOMA STATE

• Oklahoma State and TCU are the lone Big 12 Teams that UCF hasn't lost against across multiple outings. The Knights are 2-0 against the Cowboys, earning wins in 2023 and 2025 while the Black and Gold boasts wins against TCU in 2024 and 2026. UCF has never lost to Arizona either, winning the lone meeting in 2024.
• The Knights' first win against the Cowboys was a 45-3 victory over then No. 15 Oklahoma State, which came Nov. 11, 2023 in one of UCF's "Space Games," which they were undefeated in at the time and now sit at 8-1 in the annual Space Games. (For more on Space Games, see later in notes.) Running Back RJ Harvey ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns while the defense forced four turnovers. The 42-point victory was the largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent in UCF's FBS history.
• UCF's most recent meeting with Oklahoma State was this past season and the final home game for UCF in 2025. After going into halftime down 14-0, the Knights powered their way back for a 17-14 victory. On the first play of scrimmage out of the halftime locker room, tight end Dylan Wade took a reception 83 yards to the endzone for the sixth-longest reception in program history to cut the deficit in half. Wade later caught UCF's other touchdown pass in a monster game for him, finishing with four catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

KEYONE JENKINS SETS COMPLETION PERCENTAGE RECORD

• QB Keyone Jenkins completed 19-of-20 passes in the victory over TCU, a UCF record when it comes to pass completion percentage. The new record surpasses that of UCF QB Coach McKenzie Milton, who completed 24-of-26 (92%) Oct. 28, 2017 against Austin Peay.
• Jenkins nearly set another record across the games against TCU and No. 20 Houston, as he completed his final 14 passes against the Horned Frogs and completed his first three against the Cougars a week later. His 17-straight completion streak came to an end when he had to throw a ball away under pressure, reaching the streak's end as the second longest consecutive completion stretch in program history. Jenkins' 17 straight completed passes trails only Dillon Gabriel, who had 18 straight Sept. 26, 2020 at East Carolina.

ABOUT UCF ATHLETICS
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.