Was 2025 UCF football season a success? Final Knights report card
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PROVO, Utah — For the first time in more than two decades, UCF will spend consecutive holiday seasons at home, failing to achieve the necessary six wins to earn an invitation to a bowl game.
BYU, the No. 11 team in the land according to the College Football Playoff rankings, sealed the Knights’ fate Saturday, Nov. 29, with a 41-21 victory at LaVell Edwards Stadium. UCF (5-7, 2-7 Big 12) jumped out to a 14-0 lead, its first in any road game this year, but the Cougars struck for 31 unanswered points in the middle quarters.
UCF last missed out on back-to-back bowls in 2003-04, and prior to this weekend, it had not posted three straight losing seasons in its Football Bowl Subdivision era (since 1996). But head coach Scott Frost will need to quickly turn attention toward roster retention, wrapping up the high school recruiting class and adding further acquisitions through the transfer portal.
“To be honest, (conversations about retention) have started already. The game’s in a bad place, and agents have been shopping kids that are playing with teams to other teams for the last six weeks,” Frost said. “I hope we’ve created a good enough environment in our building that kids like being in, that we have a lot of kids that want to stay.
“Certainly, numbers can change that. If there’s something that a team just can’t match, then kids are doing other things, and that’s too much of a primary driver of what kids are doing and where they’re going right now. We certainly have some players on our team that we’re excited to build around, and I think they feel the same way.”
Before turning the page and closing the book on Frost’s return campaign, let’s first reflect on what went wrong — and what went right — for the Knights. As we did during at the midseason point, here are final grades for the 2025 season.
Offense
Midseason grade: C-
Final grade: C-
UCF had some fairly woeful offensive performances in the back half of the season, particularly a 30-3 loss at Baylor and a 48-9 demolition at the hands of Texas Tech.
Among Big 12 teams, the Knights finished 13th in scoring (24.3 points per game), 11th in rushing (158 yards per game), eighth in passing (220.8 yards per game) and 14th in third-down conversion rate (33.9%). Penalties played a significant role in their struggles; 65 of the team’s 89 flags came against its offense, including 40 pre-snap infractions.
Tayven Jackson started 10 of UCF’s 12 games at quarterback, completing 63.5% of his passes for 2,151 yards with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Redshirt senior running back Myles Montgomery shouldered the starter’s workload for the first time and produced 705 yards with four touchdowns.
UCF’s breakout star on offense was Orlando native Dylan Wade, who set a single-season record for tight ends in the program’s FBS era with five touchdown catches. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound junior, who spent the previous two years at Maryland, tallied career highs in receptions (43) and receiving yards (523).
Duane Thomas Jr. proved an important, multi-purpose weapon in the slot, Waden Charles blossomed into an impact starter as a true freshman and DJ Black made a pair of field-stretching touchdown grabs in September. Those players all have eligibility remaining, though UCF should seek to find a few extra veteran playmakers — particularly in the backfield as Montgomery and Jaden Nixon (seven rushing TDs) move on.
UCF’s offensive line drew an overwhelming amount of criticism, though it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that first-year position coach Shawn Clark died unexpectedly at age 50 in September. His handpicked assistant, Alex Farah, and mentor, Danny Hope, filled the void for the remainder of the year.
Preston Cushman started every game at right tackle, and Paul Rubelt manned the blind side for the majority when not troubled by an ankle injury. Starting center Carter Miller missed the last three outings, and UCF never truly found a consistent, functional trio along the interior. Expect significant, immediate investment in this area in the winter.
Defense
Midseason grade: B+
Final grade: B-
Frost caught quite a lot of flak — from fans and pundits alike — for appointing Alex Grinch as his defensive coordinator. On the whole, UCF fared well on that side of the ball, with several starters potentially in line for All-Big 12 accolades.
UCF ran in the middle of the Big 12 pack in most metrics: eighth in points allowed (23.6), ninth against the run (150.7 ypg), seventh in sacks (26), 10th in interceptions (nine), eighth on third down (36.9%) and 10th on fourth down (58.6%). The Knights largely shined in coverage, however, ranking third against the pass (185.1 ypg).
Malachi Lawrence hounded opposing quarterbacks in his fifth season for UCF, registering a team-high seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Nyjalik Kelly and Cole Kozlowski had 7½ TFLs apiece, while Lewis Carter racked up a team-best 92 tackles. Phillip Dunnam became the first Knight to snag three interceptions in a single game, victimizing Houston’s Conner Weigman in a memorable Space Game performance.
UCF projects to return seven defensive starters for 2026, assuming it is not priced out of retention: Carter, defensive tackles John Walker and RJ Jackson, safety Demari Henderson, nickelback Braeden Marshall and cornerbacks Jayden Bellamy and Antione Jackson. Edge rusher Sincere Edwards (foot) and defensive tackle Horace Lockett Jr. (pectoral) should come back after undergoing season-ending surgeries.
The final grade takes a slight dropoff due to the Knights’ inability to stem the tide against the Big 12’s upper-echelon offenses. Baylor went up 14-0 within nine minutes, Texas Tech jumped out to a 21-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter and BYU reeled off four straight scoring drives to pull away in the finale.
Special teams
Midseason grade: A-
Final grade: B
Year over year, UCF’s special teams probably made the biggest improvement among all three phases. The Knights were abysmal in this department during their first two Big 12 campaigns.
Parker Kingston’s 55-yard punt return touchdown probably dings the overall score a partial letter grade as it served as the final nail in the bowl-eligibility coffin. The Knights plummeted from 22nd in punt return coverage at the midway point to 94th (9.67 yards per return).
Anthony Venneri finished last in the conference in punting at 40.7 yards per kick, with just five of his 48 punts traveling 50 or more yards. UCF downed 20 of Venneri’s punts inside the opponents’ 20-yard line, tied for second-best in the Big 12.
UCF had far more juice in the return game than it did a season ago. Jaden Nixon notched the Knights’ first kickoff return touchdown since 2017 to open a win over North Carolina A&T, and starting cornerback Jackson sits 12th in the nation in punt returns (12.5 yards per return).
Noe Ruelas, however, was the unit’s true standout following his spring transfer from James Madison. One of 20 national semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation’s top placekicker, Ruelas made 15 of 17 field goals — including three from beyond 50 yards — and 32 of 33 PAT attempts.
Intangibles
Midseason grade: D
Final grade: D
UCF’s penchant for “self-inflicted wounds” never truly improved, though it might have played its cleanest game of the season at BYU. With regard to the aforementioned pre-snap penalty plague, Frost said, “We are kind of what we are,” following a sloppy first half and comeback win over hapless Oklahoma State.
At his introductory press conference, Frost cautioned fans from expecting immediate success, and that his 2.0 offensive version would look different. Those statements proved accurate, especially the latter as the Knights never resembled the breakneck-tempo 2017 team that led the nation in scoring.
Inexperience was certainly a reason for that, as was the intention of not tiring out the defensive unit for long stretches. Considering UCF’s defense carried the team in several wins this fall, it ended up being a wise decision.
UCF finished ninth in the Big 12 for time of possession at 29:53. Only one team ahead of the Knights (Kansas, in eighth) posted a losing record.
Grinch harped all year long about the importance of generating takeaways, and that turnover margin dictates success as much as any statistic in the sport. To that point, UCF had a minus-4 margin (14 takeaways, 18 turnovers) to tie for 96th among FBS teams.
By contrast, Big 12 championship competitors BYU and Texas Tech each sat among the top 10 nationally with a combined margin of plus-25.
Recruiting
Midseason grade: D+
Final grade: C-
UCF made a major change in its quarterback near the end of November, flipping Platte County (Mo.)’s Rocco Marriott away from James Madison as Greenwood (Ark.) dual-threat Kane Archer opted for Big 12 rival Utah.
Marriott is the higher-ranked of the two, and UCF’s lone consensus blue-chipper in the class to date, but that evaluation could have long-lasting ramifications on whether Frost’s second stint is successful. UCF travels to Utah in 2027, so it’s entirely possible Marriott and Archer battle head-to-head in Salt Lake City.
Alhassan Iddrissu, the 6-foot-7, 255-pound Ghanaian-born edge rusher, suffered a patellar tendon injury and missed the bulk of his senior year at St. Thomas More in Oakdale, Connecticut. He is the Knights’ second-best recruit, per 247Sports’ composite rankings.
Several UCF commits boosted their stock during the season, though — including Missouri City (Texas) Ridge Point linebacker Preston Hall, Minersville Area (Pa.) quarterback Dante Carr and Neptune Beach Fletcher cornerback Elijah Keys.
The Knights hope to close the early signing window by securing one of their biggest targets, Sarasota Booker wide receiver and Under Armour All-American Tyren Hornes.
Hornes previously committed to the Knights in April but flipped in favor of Michigan State after a June 20 official visit. He then decommitted from Michigan State in October, and the Knights have continued to recruit him as a top priority.
On Nov. 20, Hornes posted a top schools list including UCF, Auburn, Georgia, Louisville and Ole Miss onto his Instagram account.
It’s also worth noting that Frost’s staff could re-evaluate the 2026 high school class once it knows how many players plan to depart via the transfer portal and which players will be dropped from other schools in the aftermath of the coaching carousel. Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU and Ole Miss all made hires over the weekend, South Florida needs a new head coach, as does Kentucky, which fired Mark Stoops late Sunday.
Most of the nation’s top recruits will sign Dec. 3 when the early window opens, but all of the fallout could lead to several gems being available in February.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football final grades for 2025 season
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