UCF HC Scott Frost Shares Major Challenge Knights Face in Week 1
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The long wait is over. The UCF Knights will play a football game on Thursday night against Bethune-Cookman.
On paper, UCF should be a major favorite against FCS Bethune-Cookman. However, every year someone gets upset in these games, and the Knights do need to be careful. Head coach Scott Frost knows that. He also knows there are always challenges unique to Week 1 that are hard to find any other week of the season.
“I think one of the challenges of the first game is you’ve got to kind of get out of camp mode, particularly with college football the way it is now,” Scott Frost said. “We spend a lot of time with our team. We’ve been working for a long time. We’ve been in practice mode for a long time, and it’s time to flip the page and be in game mode. There’s a little bit more attention to detail there. There’s a little more intensity that’s required.”
A season ago, in Frost’s first season back at UCF, it was a difficult season opener. They’d beat Jacksonville State, but it was a closer game than expected, with a 17-10 final score. They bounced back a week later to win 68-7 over FCS NC A&T, but that Week 1 game made it clear there were major issues on the team to navigate.
Talent will likely win out on Thursday. However, Frost is still looking for specific things out of UCF. In particular, that they’re playing with intensity and playing well.
“I want to make sure our guys are firing and ready to play and coming out and playing fast. Like I said earlier, I think the big test for us is making sure it’s a really clean game — not a lot of mistakes, penalties and things that hurt a team,” Frost said.
UCF Knights HC Scott Frost is Confident
2025 was clearly a year one for Scott Frost at UCF. It may have technically been his third season there, but 2025 was the first of his second stint. It was also his first coaching UCF in the Big 12 and his first with a brand new set of players.
Things didn’t go great. At 5-7, UCF had a better record than in 2024. However, that only means so much when you’re not bowl eligible. So, it’s good to hear from Frost that he’s much more confident going into his second season.
“I’m a lot more confident. I would say mostly that’s because I have a lot more trust in the guys that I’m going to go play a game with,” Frost said.
“Going to battle with guys that you can rely on, that care, that want to do things right, that gives you a lot of confidence when you look to your right and left and you see the right guy standing next to you. We’ve got way more of the right guy.”
The last time Frost had a second season at UCF, the Knights went unbeaten. That’s a big ask for an encore, but his confidence has to be exciting.
Scott Frost Has a Message for His Team
Scott Frost wants to make sure his team is ready to go in Week 1. Getting out on that right foot would go a long way to getting UCF back to bowl eligibility, after all. So, it’s with that in mind that he shared a message for his team ahead of Week 1.
“Be us,” Frost said. “We’re going to get 12 tests this year. I’ve said to the team a lot that UCF’s not going to get a lot of attention, accolades or credit for anything until we go earn it.”
UCF enters the season regarded as a cellar dweller in the Big 12. Very few experts are giving them a shot, but all that can change once games start.
“This is our first chance to go earn it,” Frost said.
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