Football Travels to Kansas for Week 10 Tilt

• UCF's annual Space Game ended with a loss for a second consecutive season as the Knights fell 41-9 to Baylor; bringing UCF to 8-2 in Space Games
• The Space Game is a yearly celebration of UCF's connection and roots as a university founded to support a growing NASA program at Kennedy Space Center in the 1960s. Each year has a unique mission tagline and uniforms. More on the Space Game can be found later in the notes.
• UCF's lone points in the Space Game came from kicker Will Stone who was a perfect three-for-three on field goals, including drilling a 57-yard field goal, a new UCF record by a full two yards.
• The Knights fell victim to a trend in college football this year, losing the next game after defeating a top 10 opponent. UCF beat No. 2 BYU 39-31 in double overtime Oct. 24 before being defeated by Baylor Oct. 30. FBS teams who defeat a top-10 ranked team this season are 6-11 the following week (through Week 9). However, teams are 8-3 this season in the second game removed from the top 10 upset.

• Alonza Barnett III is the only quarterback in the Big 12 Conference with College Football Playoff experience after leading James Madison to a Sun Belt Conference title and an appearance in the CFP bracket in 2025. Barnett was named Sun Belt Player of the Year and passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another in the Dukes' CFP game at No. 5 Oregon.
• Barnett transferred to UCF for the 2026 season but was injured late in the second game of the season at Pittsburgh on Sept. 12, a 12-7 loss in a torrential downpour. He returned to action against Baylor on Oct. 30, going 8-for-16 for 133 yards in relief of Keyone Jenkins, who exited due to injury.
• Barnett boasts 75 career touchdowns, with 51 through the air and another 24 on the ground. He's thrown two touchdowns and rushed for one as a Knight.
• Since 2025, Barnett is 13-3 as a starter, the seventh-best winning percentage in Power 4 conferences.

• A pair of freshmen on the offensive side of the ball have been impressive so far this season, WR Tyren Hornes and TE Caden Piening. The duo ranks second and fourth in receiving yards for the Knights, respectively.
• A true freshman from Bradenton, Fla., Hornes has slowly worked his way into a prominent role on the offense, experiencing a breakout game in the win over No. 2 BYU, hauling in six catches for 137 yards and a two-point conversion in double overtime. The four-star commit was listed as the No. 74 recruit in the SC Next 2026 ESPN top 300 final release and announced his commitment to UCF at the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 3, 2026
• Piening arrived to UCF in 2025, but dealt with injury in his true freshman season. That hasn't stopped his involvement in the offense, snagging a pair of touchdowns thus far and registering five games with multiple catches.

• UCF's defense has stood strong against opponent's first drive of a game, surrendering just one opening-drive score this season to No. 2 BYU. Dating back to the beginning of head coach Scott Frost's second tenure at UCF in 2025, the Knights have limited opponents to just four scores in their first 20 opening drives thus far. The Knights have forced two turnovers on opponents' opening drives across its five Big 12 games in 2026.
• UCF has scored a touchdown on its first drive in four of eight games this season, seeing a streak of four-straight come to an end vs. No. 2 BYU

• UCF has allowed the fewest rushing plays of 10+ yards in the Big 12 this season, surrendering 21 runs of 10+ yards in 2026, which is tied for ninth in FBS
• The Knights have improved their run-stopping compared to the previous campaign and have allowed just 126.3 rushing yards per game this season, compared to 150.7 allowed in 2025
• UCF ranks fifth in rushing defense when looking at Big 12 Conference games exclusively, allowing 119.4 yards per game in league play in 2026
• UCF's conference-opening win over TCU saw the Knights limit the Horned Frogs to 33 rushing yards on 27 carries before limiting No. 2 BYU to 116 rushing yards, nearly 100 below its average of 206.7 entering that contest

• The Knights are looking to shake off their road woes and snap a 12-game road losing streak dating back to a Sept. 14, 2024 road victory at TCU, a 35-34 comeback victory that saw UCF trail by as many as 21 points.
• UCF has been close to winning many of those road games but have faced some difficult matchups in the process. Five of the 12 road games were against ranked foes, three of which were ranked No. 11 or higher in the polls.
• This season in particular saw the Knights lead No. 20 Houston and tied with No. 18 Oklahoma State at halftime before being outscored in the second half
• UCF visits Kansas this week, which have a Big 12-worst 44.8 win % at home since 2007

• RB Duke Watson enters Week 10 boasting 6.49 yards per carry, which ranks 13th in the nation and fourth in the Big 12 Conference; his freshman season saw him lead the nation in rushing at 8.9 yards per carry in 2024 at Louisville
• Watson ranks T-6th in the Big 12 in most rushing plays of 10+ yards this season with 19
• 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 rushed for a career-high 177 yards in Week 3 against Georgia State while scoring two touchdowns in the win. Watson's 12.6 yards p/carry against the Panthers was the second-highest mark in UCF history behind Latavius Murray's 13.27 yards p/rush mark Nov. 20, 2010 in a 61-14 win at Tulane.

• UCF has snagged seven interceptions in 2026, ranking sixth in the Big 12
• The Knights had just nine interceptions in each of the last two seasons
• UCF forced 14 turnovers last season and have forced 12 to this point in 2026
• A turning point in the Knights' win over No. 2 BYU was a tipped ball by DT Thomas Collins at the line that was intercepted by LB Tackett Curtis. UCF was trailing 14-10 with BYU driving before the two-minute timeout of halftime. The takeaway turned into seven points and a 17-14 halftime lead for the Black and Gold, going on to topple No. 2 BYU 39-31 in double overtime.
• UCF returns 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, a clip that was third-lowest in UCF's FBS history and the best since 2001. So far in 2026, UCF has surrendered an average of 249.6 passing yards per game but has earned more interceptions.

• UCF welcomed the highest-ranked foe in Acrisure Bounce House history in Week 8 and made the most of the opportunity, toppling then-No. 2 BYU 39-31 in double overtime. The victory gives UCF its first win against an AP top-5 ranked opponent, fourth against a top-10 foe and 11th ranked win overall.
• Head Coach Scott Frost is responsible for four of UCF's 11 ranked wins in program history, earning three in 2017 before adding the BYU win to the resume. He now has the most wins over ranked opponents out of any coach in UCF history.
• UCF has defended home turf against ranked foes, winning three of the last four battles against a top 25 team in Orlando. The win snapped a six-game losing streak against ranked foes, five of which were on the road.
• The contest was the third time UCF faced a top-two team and the second as an FBS program (previously 1995 at No. 1 FSU, L, 46-14; 2009 at No. 2 Texas, L, 35-3)
• UCF improved to 23-1 under coach Frost in games they score 30+ points
• In UCF's first overtime game since 2017, UCF QB Keyone Jenkins went three-for-five passing across both overtimes and tallied two touchdowns and a two-point conversion in the air. He finished the game with four total touchdowns.
• Freshman Tyren Hornes had a breakout game and came up big for UCF, hauling in six catches for 137 yards plus a two-point conversion grab in double overtime

• The Knights have compiled 78 wins since 2017, which is second-most in the state of Florida and third-most in the Big 12. UCF ranks 23rd 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 both have 82 victories. The Black and Gold are ahead of Cincinnati, which has 77 wins since 2017.
• In Florida, Miami (81) edged in front of UCF (78) in wins since 2017, followed by Florida (67), Florida State (59), Florida Atlantic (58) and South Florida (54)

• Punter Atticus Bertrams enters Week 10 ranked 13th in the nation and third in the Big 12 in average distance per punt with a 46.0 clip.
• Bertrams is in range to set a new UCF record for average punt distance, which is currently held by Matt Prater who averaged 47.9 yards per punt
• Bertrams' career-high mark for average yards per punt in a season was 45.3, set during his 2024 campaign at Wisconsin
• The Sydney, Australia native was named to Ray Guy Award Ray's 8 for his efforts in UCF's win over No. 2 BYU (more on page 8)

THIS WEEK IN THE BIG 12