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UCF opens preseason football camp on Monday, kicking off the countdown to the season opener against Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 3.
The Knights return nine starters and welcome 57 newcomers to a roster that is more experienced than the previous season when the team finished 5-7 in coach Scott Frost’s return to the program after an eight-year absence.
Here are several storylines worth watching over the next four weeks:
Who emerges as QB2?
UCF enters camp with high hopes at quarterback with transfer Alonza Barnett III locked in as the Knights’ starter. Barnett is coming off a career-best season in which he was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year after leading James Madison to the College Football Playoff.
Despite sitting out most of spring camp, Barnett appears to be ready to take the reins when the team takes the practice field on Monday.
Perhaps the biggest question that still needs to be answered is who will emerge as Barnett’s backup. While coaches hope to avoid a recurrence of last season when four different quarterbacks saw action due to injuries, there is always a chance something could happen.
To that point, the Knights have several options led by former FIU starter Keyone Jenkins, Boise State backup Kaleb Annett and true freshmen Rocco Marriott and Dante Carr.
Jenkins, a veteran with 33 career starts, is most likely the next man up if Barnett goes down, with Annett serving as third-string. However, a strong showing over the next few weeks of camp could shift the depth chart.
Who steps up at defensive end and other position battles?
The departures of edge rushers Malachi Lawrence and Nyjalik Kelly to the NFL leave the defensive ends as one of the primary position battles to watch during camp.
Returnees Isaiah Nixon and Sincere Edwards figure to be the favorites to replace Lawrence and Kelly, but transfers Bruno Dall and Ken Talley could also make their case for earning the starting nod, as could second-year player Aymeric Koumba.
On the offensive side of the football, the offensive line has been mostly rebuilt, with tackle Preston Cushman being the only returning starter from last season. The Knights added a handful of newcomers, including transfers Henry Tabansi, Cooper Terpstra, Brady Wayburn and Tyler Gibson.
Tabansi and Wayburn were multi-year starters and figure to step into the tackle and guard spots, respectively. Terpstra has been in a close competition with returnee Connor Meadows and Jacob Maiava for the center spot.
LaParka Langston, Owen Spell and Justin Royes should help new offensive line coach AJ Blazek put together a solid rotation up front.
While Duane Thomas Jr., Waden Charles and Josh Derry have the wide receiver spots sewn up, the rest of the depth chart behind them isn’t so clear.
DayDay Farmer, who missed all of last season with an injury, is back, as is Caleb Rollerson and Jordyn Bridgewater. They will contend with transfer Jonathan Bibbs and true freshmen Tyren Hornes and Jordan Nunuha.
What sort of identity will this team take on?
Before spring camp, Frost told the Orlando Sentinel he hoped his team would show more toughness than they had last season.
“We didn’t play well on the road last year. We were inconsistent and in some games we started fast and didn’t finish well,” said Frost. “Some games we started slowly and didn’t have enough at the end. But playing well on the road and playing consistently largely have to do with being tough and competitive.
“If you have tough, competitive guys that want to do everything right and are capable of doing everything right, it makes it a lot easier.”
UCF was winless (0-5) on the road last season and enters this season riding a nine-game road losing streak, the sixth-longest road streak in the country.
The Knights added 57 newcomers to a roster of 108; many arrived via the transfer market, and more than half are upperclassmen with experience — something that was considered important when signing players in the offseason.
“We’re going to be a lot more mature group this year. We made a conscious effort to get older and more experienced, and I think that helps in a lot of areas.”
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: [email protected]. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
Continue reading...
The Knights return nine starters and welcome 57 newcomers to a roster that is more experienced than the previous season when the team finished 5-7 in coach Scott Frost’s return to the program after an eight-year absence.
Here are several storylines worth watching over the next four weeks:
Who emerges as QB2?
UCF enters camp with high hopes at quarterback with transfer Alonza Barnett III locked in as the Knights’ starter. Barnett is coming off a career-best season in which he was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year after leading James Madison to the College Football Playoff.
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Despite sitting out most of spring camp, Barnett appears to be ready to take the reins when the team takes the practice field on Monday.
Perhaps the biggest question that still needs to be answered is who will emerge as Barnett’s backup. While coaches hope to avoid a recurrence of last season when four different quarterbacks saw action due to injuries, there is always a chance something could happen.
To that point, the Knights have several options led by former FIU starter Keyone Jenkins, Boise State backup Kaleb Annett and true freshmen Rocco Marriott and Dante Carr.
Jenkins, a veteran with 33 career starts, is most likely the next man up if Barnett goes down, with Annett serving as third-string. However, a strong showing over the next few weeks of camp could shift the depth chart.
Who steps up at defensive end and other position battles?
The departures of edge rushers Malachi Lawrence and Nyjalik Kelly to the NFL leave the defensive ends as one of the primary position battles to watch during camp.
Returnees Isaiah Nixon and Sincere Edwards figure to be the favorites to replace Lawrence and Kelly, but transfers Bruno Dall and Ken Talley could also make their case for earning the starting nod, as could second-year player Aymeric Koumba.
On the offensive side of the football, the offensive line has been mostly rebuilt, with tackle Preston Cushman being the only returning starter from last season. The Knights added a handful of newcomers, including transfers Henry Tabansi, Cooper Terpstra, Brady Wayburn and Tyler Gibson.
Tabansi and Wayburn were multi-year starters and figure to step into the tackle and guard spots, respectively. Terpstra has been in a close competition with returnee Connor Meadows and Jacob Maiava for the center spot.
LaParka Langston, Owen Spell and Justin Royes should help new offensive line coach AJ Blazek put together a solid rotation up front.
While Duane Thomas Jr., Waden Charles and Josh Derry have the wide receiver spots sewn up, the rest of the depth chart behind them isn’t so clear.
DayDay Farmer, who missed all of last season with an injury, is back, as is Caleb Rollerson and Jordyn Bridgewater. They will contend with transfer Jonathan Bibbs and true freshmen Tyren Hornes and Jordan Nunuha.
What sort of identity will this team take on?
Before spring camp, Frost told the Orlando Sentinel he hoped his team would show more toughness than they had last season.
“We didn’t play well on the road last year. We were inconsistent and in some games we started fast and didn’t finish well,” said Frost. “Some games we started slowly and didn’t have enough at the end. But playing well on the road and playing consistently largely have to do with being tough and competitive.
“If you have tough, competitive guys that want to do everything right and are capable of doing everything right, it makes it a lot easier.”
UCF was winless (0-5) on the road last season and enters this season riding a nine-game road losing streak, the sixth-longest road streak in the country.
The Knights added 57 newcomers to a roster of 108; many arrived via the transfer market, and more than half are upperclassmen with experience — something that was considered important when signing players in the offseason.
“We’re going to be a lot more mature group this year. We made a conscious effort to get older and more experienced, and I think that helps in a lot of areas.”
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: [email protected]. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
Continue reading...
