Alonza Barnett III is already getting noticed in Orlando, and UCF’s new quarterback is back on the Maxwell Award Watch List for the second straight year.
That recognition fits the résumé he brings with him. Barnett arrives after a breakout run at James Madison, where he helped push the Dukes to their first College Football Playoff appearance and put together the best passing season of his career. Now he lands at UCF with the kind of profile that can change the feel of a program.
The Maxwell Award goes to the nation’s best player, the one who lifts both his team and the sport around him. Last year, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza won it while leading Indiana to the national championship.
Barnett didn’t take home the award, but he made a strong case for why he keeps landing on these lists. The 5-foot-11 quarterback threw for 2,806 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions at JMU, finishing 208 yards better than he did in 2024.
He also ripped off five straight games with at least 250 passing yards, capped by a season-high 303 against Appalachian State on Nov. 15.
His production earned plenty of conference recognition along the way. Barnett was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week twice, won Manning Award Stars of the Week honors and finished as First Team All-Sun Belt quarterback.
JMU earned the No. 12 seed in the CFP and drew No. 5 Oregon on Dec.
- The Ducks were too much in that game, but Barnett still showed up.
The then-redshirt junior threw for 273 yards and two touchdowns, added 45 rushing yards and scored once on the ground. His line was strong enough to stand up against what Oregon did the following week, when the Ducks shut out No.
4 Texas Tech 23-0.
Now Barnett is trying to bring that same kind of spark to UCF, a team sitting on a two-season bowl drought after back-to-back losing years. The Knights did have a chance to accept a postseason invitation after Notre Dame declined a bid following its playoff snub, but UCF passed. By then, the season was over and the roster had already started to break apart, with players heading for NFL training or the transfer portal.
In a lot of ways, Barnett is stepping into the same kind of job he had at James Madison: a program looking for someone who can reset the direction. And coach Scott Frost checked off a major offseason need when the portal opened in January by landing a starting quarterback. Frost’s offense is built for dual-threat passers, and Barnett fits that mold.
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UCF is among the schools with interest, alongside LSU, Kansas and Kentucky, but the chase may ultimately come down to whether the Knights can match the financial reality surrounding his return. Halls decision is now tied to a marketplace that could favor the biggest spenders, leaving UCF hoping the pull of a second act in Orlando is enough to keep it in the race. [Read more 🡒]