UCF Knights Football (3-1) played its first road game of 2025 on Saturday. Members of KnightNation thought that the Kansas State Wildcats (2-3) were vulnerable. However, despite the injuries on the right side of their offensive line, they were more effective putting points on the board than UCF defeating the Knights, 34-20.
Special Teams: A
Noe Ruelas hitting a career-long field goal from 53 yards out is a bright spot on the day. He also booted in a 40-yarder. On four punts, Anthony Venneri racked up three punts inside
the 20, a long of 55 yards with an average of 45.3 per kick.
Offense: D
The Wildcats dared UCF to throw on early downs early and often. When this stacking of the box led to UCF’s offense into obvious passing situations, that’s when the worst happened for the Knights. With just under 13 minutes left in the first half, UCF starting quarterback Tayven Jackson was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury.
If UCF’s offense wasn’t predictable to start the game, it got there fast once Jacurri Brown came in to back up Jackson. Brown’s first passing attempt was an interception. His second was an 82-yard touchdown to DJ Black — the longest Knight reception since 2001. He wouldn’t throw the ball again for the rest of the day.
With 9:52 left in quarter three, Jackson returned to action playing through pain. The second play after his return the defense was forced to respect UCF’s passing threat again, and the Knights broke off a 45-yard run with Myles Montgomery. He finished with 119 yards on 10 carries.
Two plays later, Black dropped a pass in the end zone that hit him in the hands.
After that on a third down and 12, Jackson ran and looked to convert a third and 12, but his slide down was marked short of the line to gain. On the next play, Frost put Brown back on the field and predictability resumed. Trying to reach the ball out in a scrum, Brown fumbled and the Wildcats retook command of the game. It was the first time UCF was stopped on fourth down in 2025.
Jaden Nixon provided a spark late in the third quarter with a 54-yard run that was the biggest gain of the day on the ground. But if you combine Montgomery and Nixon’s biggest runs of the day, you have 48% of UCF’s ground yardage.
In the air, Jackson finished with 115 yards passing completing 12 throws on 24 carries. They gained fewer yards passing than running. The stretch of the game where the offense was predictable dug the Knights into a hole from which they couldn’t climb out.
Defense C-
Credit to the Knight defense for opening strong. Demari Henderson intercepted freshman tight end Linkon Cure on a double pass in the game’s first drive. Then UCF forced a turnover on downs, which was completed by Malachi Lawrence stripping Kansas State quarterback on a fumble that went out of bounds.
However in those opening salvos, the KSU coaching staff started to realize that the outside run is still a vulnerability for UCF’s defense. The vulnerability led to the Knights’ defense giving up back-to-back touchdowns heading into the half.
With the run working for the Wildcats, UCF’s linebackers and defensive secondary found themselves giving up 17 more points in the rest of the second half.
It felt like Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman and his staff were able to figure out how to take UCF’s defensive tackles out of the game in the trenches late in the second quarter. They wisely rolled the dice on fourth down while Jackson was out on offense. Instead of taking the field goal to make it 13-7 at the half, that scoring drive made it 17-7. That bigger hole being dug impacted the Knights’ approach throughout the rest of the contest.
It was more than they could climb out of.
