UCF opens spring camp with QB Alonza Barnett III on the mend

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UCF opened spring football camp with starting quarterback Alonza Barnett III on the sidelines.

The 5-foot-11, 210-pound Barnett was limited throughout the nearly two-hour practice on Tuesday, taking part in warmups, but didn’t participate in early drills with the other quarterbacks.

Coach Scott Frost provided an update on Barnett’s condition after the practice session.

“We’re going to take it slow with him, just kind of out of caution,” Frost said. “He’s just dealing with a couple of little things and we don’t want to push it.

“He’s been doing an unbelievable job in offseason workouts with the guys and getting himself ready. He’ll be back up and ready to go at some point during spring, but we’re going to ease him into it.”

Barnett arrived on campus as a redshirt senior following a stellar career at James Madison. The 22-year-old was named Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year after leading the Dukes to a conference title and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Frost reiterated that the plan is to have Barnett back on the field sometime over the next five weeks of camp.

“We’ll get reps out of him this spring. He’s obviously taking mental reps right now,” Frost explained. “A guy who’s played as much football as him, we’ve got to make sure he’s good to go come fall. He’s picking everything up so fast that it’s not a concern to me at all. He should be ready to go for 7-on-7 [drills] and some things pretty quickly, and then we’ll see where we get the rest of spring.”

With Barnett limited, the Knights will focus on the remaining quarterbacks led by senior Keyone Jenkins, redshirt sophomore Kaleb Annett and freshmen Rocco Marriott and Dante Carr. Jenkins is the only quarterback on the roster with college experience, having spent several seasons at FIU.

“It creates opportunity for other people and it’s certainly going to give those guys an opportunity to get reps and give us an opportunity to evaluate,” Frost said of the rest of the quarterback room.

“We went into spring last year with a multiple-horse race for that position. It feels like that spot’s pretty solidified once he [Barnett] gets 100%, but there’s a competition for who’s going to be No. 2 and it’s going to be fun to watch those guys compete.”

Frost was pleased with how his team responded to being on the practice field for the first time.

“These guys were ready to go out and practice,” he said. “For it being spring and with all the new additions we had, there weren’t a lot of glaring mistakes and errors. We certainly had a really good effort out there today.”

Frost returned to the program last season after an eight-year absence, overhauling a roster that introduced nearly 70 newcomers. In the end, the Knights finished with a 5-7 record, while missing out on bowl eligibility for the second straight season.

Knights open spring football seeking toughness, more discipline

This roster underwent another renovation in the offseason, but unlike last year, it wasn’t nearly as complete an overhaul with the addition of 47 fresh faces: 31 transfers and 16 high school signees.

Frost found himself constantly dealing with the looming challenge of a spring transfer window, always worried that players would leave after camp. This time around, without a transfer window, camp feels a lot freer.

“We’re able to coach these guys and work them like we need to in order to get better without fear of losing them after spring or worrying about coaching guys that aren’t going to be here for fall anyway,” said Frost. “We have a lot better leaders on the team that have been through what we’re going to ask them to go through and are able to show other guys the ropes.”

Receiver Duane Thomas Jr. was one of those leaders showing his teammates the ropes.

“We had a fun day today and did a lot of good. A lot of guys stood out today,” Thomas said. “As a senior, I used to be a guy who used to stand back and just let everybody do them. But now, I feel like I have to be a lot more vocal.”

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.

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