The 2025 UCF Knights football season and Frost 2.0 started with an unexpected kind of bang. In what feels like a bit of deja vu from multiple season openers, the game was delayed over two hours due to lightning. The Knights prevailed though, defeating the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 17-10. It’s knee-jerk reaction time.
Frost 2.0’s Offense was Slow to Heat Up
First Frost 2.0 was not the UCFast start fans hoped for. Quarterback Cam Fancher, who won the competition between him, Tayven Jackson, and Jacurri Brown, had a short and inconsistent game. On the last play before the two-hour and six-minute lightning delay, Fancher was hit in the head by an unblocked Tre’Quon Fegans and knocked out of the game with a lower back injury. Fegans was ejected for targeting, and Fancher was out of the game. As the game resumed, the Knights’ passing game didn’t get any better with Jackson stepping in. The Knights’ offense sputtered with 146 yards of total offense and no points in the first half. In fact, the game was scoreless at halftime. The Knights fumbled the ball three times and lost it once.
The second half was slow to get going, but an across-the-body pass from Jackson to Myles Montgomery for 64 yards led to the Knights getting on the board when they had to settle for a Noe Ruelas field goal. As the game entered the fourth quarter, Jackson became more comfortable and began to push the ball downfield as players got open. Jackson found Dylan Wade for a 39-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10-10. Near the end of the game, Jackson was in a good rhythm and, after having Montgomery run the ball to force Jacksonville State to use their timeouts, found DJ Black for a 33-yard go-ahead touchdown with 1:11 left in the fourth.
Frost 2.0’s Defense was UCFierce
The second part of Frost 2.0 is the defense. Against Jacksonville State, the defense came to play. An area the Knights struggled with badly last year was sacking the quarterback. The Knights recorded two and six tackles for loss. At times, the defense struggled to contain Cam Cook, but they made key plays when it mattered. Jacksonville State was held to 3/15 on third down, including being stopped on the first seven attempts. The Gamecocks had unusual success on fourth down, converting the first four attempts.
Their first miss was a key fourth and one at the UCF 36. Jacksonville State hurried to the line, and Cook was stopped at the line by Jayden Williams to give the ball back to the Knights with 1:35 remaining in the fourth quarter. This set the Knights up for their game-winning drive. The defense was able to clamp down on the final drive with a Jayden Bellamy interception to preserve the win.
It’s a pretty obvious statement to say that numerous areas require improvement. Both the offense and defense had unforced penalties. Frost and crew will have to prioritize what to hit first. Thankfully, UCF hosts FCS member North Carolina A&T next week.
Frost 2.0’s Special Teams Took Care of Business
The special teams performed well. The highlight was a Keli Lawson blocked field goal. Yes, there was a missed field goal and Jacksonville converted on a fake punt, but the positive situations dwarfed those negatives. With the game tied and the first half about to expire, the Gamecocks lined up for a 35-yard field goal. Lawson was able to leap in and block the kick, preserving the tied score and preventing Jacksonville State from gaining momentum as they received the second-half kick.
Uniform Review
UCF went with an all-white uniform. They wore this color combination in 2016 for Scott Frost’s first game. It’s rare to see a home team wear white. The road team has to agree to it, and they are not required to say yes. UCF has attempted to wear white uniforms in home games before and has been told no by their opponent. Overall, the all-white look is very nice.
Stat Leaders:
Passing:
UCF: Tayven Jackson: 11/27 for 282 yards, 2 TD, 0 Int
JSU: Gavin Wimsatt: 15/29 for 139 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int
Rushing:
UCF: Myles Montgomery: 21 carries for 79 yards, 0 TD
JSU: Cam Cook: 17 carries for 75 yards, 0 TD
Receiving:
UCF: Dylan Wade: 4 catches for 54 yards, 1 TD
JSU: Cam Cook: 4 catches for 43 yards, 0 TD
Game Notes:
- UCF leads the series 1-0.
- This win is UCF’s 300th in program history.
- This is UCF’s 11th straight season-opening win. That is the third-longest current streak in FBS.
- This is Scott Frost’s 14th straight win at UCF.
- Myles Montgomery set a personal best with his 64-yard catch and run that set up UCF’s first points of the day.
- Sorry, it’s not my best, but I had trouble staying awake after the two-hour-plus lightning delay and scoreless first half.
