UCF linebacker Lewis Carter keeps stacking up preseason recognition, and now he’s landed on one of college football’s more prestigious watch lists.
Carter was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List after anchoring the Knights’ defense last season. The Bednarik Award has gone to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1994 and takes its name from Chuck “Concrete Charlie” Bednarik, the University of Pennsylvania standout who later became a multiple-year All Pro linebacker and center for the Philadelphia Eagles. Bednarik is in both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame and was the last NFL player to work full time on both sides of the ball.
On the field, Carter was everywhere for UCF in 2025. He finished as the team’s leading tackler with a career-best 92 stops, including 52 solo tackles, and earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention after the season.
He also made a habit of showing up in big moments. Carter forced a fumble on the opening play of the final game of the year against No.
11 BYU, helping spark UCF to an early 14-0 lead.
His late-season production was especially strong. Carter posted at least 12 tackles in three of the final four games, with 13 against Houston on Nov. 7, 12 at No.
6 Texas Tech on Nov. 15 and 12 at No. 11 BYU on Nov.
- He also reached double digits four times on the year, including 10 tackles in the 34-9 win over North Carolina on Sep.
The Bednarik nod adds to an already busy preseason for Carter. He’s also been named to Phil Steele’s Preseason All-Big 12 Second Team, Athlon Sports’ Preseason All-Big 12 Second Team Defense and the Shriners Children’s 1,000 Watch List.
In Other News...
UCFs Linebacker Picture Just Got Much Murkier Before The Opener
The linebacker group at UCF was already a position to watch, and it got a lot more complicated with the season opener nearing. Cole Kozlowski, who had been granted a fifth year of eligibility by a U.S. District Court judge, is now ruled ineligible to return after the NCAA obtained a stay from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The uncertainty leaves the Knights trying to sort out a key piece of their defense with little time left before games start counting.
Coach Scott Frost has made it clear the situation is still fluid, which fits a roster that has already seen some help arrive through the transfer portal to soften the impact if Kozlowski is ultimately unavailable. For now, UCF is left waiting on what comes next while preparing as if the answer could still shift, and that kind of uncertainty is never ideal when a team is trying to settle its linebacker rotation before Week 1. [Read more 🡒]
UCF Needs A Healthy Horace Lockett More Than Ever This Fall
Horace Locketts return gives UCF something it badly needs on the interior, especially after he missed most of last season with a torn pectoral muscle. The defensive tackle is back for his final college campaign and is expected to battle for the starting nose tackle job, a role the Knights need solidified if they want more consistency up front.
Locketts offseason also has put him on a more visible pro path, with a spot on the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl Top 300 drawing notice around the program. His journey to this point has not been straightforward, and the reason he chose to stay in Orlando when he had other options says plenty about what this season means to him and to UCF, even as the bigger question is how much he can give them now that he is healthy again. [Read more 🡒]