UCF’s offensive line has already shown both sides of the coin in 2026.
There have been the big moments - the kind that show up in rushing totals and make life easier for everyone behind the line. Bethune-Cookman and Georgia State were those kinds of days.
Then there was Pittsburgh, where the Knights managed just 20 rushing yards while giving up three sacks. That’s the kind of swing offensive coordinator Steve Cooper was talking about when he said Tuesday that the line is not where the staff wants it to be in some areas.
If there’s one clear step forward, it’s the pre-snap discipline. Last year, penalties before the snap were a major issue for UCF’s offensive line, making up about 47.7% of all flags. False starts alone accounted for nearly 29% of the penalties, at an average of 2.27 per game.
This season has looked better in that department. Through three games, and excluding delay-of-game penalties taken to give punter Atticus Bertrams more room, UCF has been flagged only five times before the snap. Four of those have been false starts, and two of them have gone against right tackle Preston Cushman, one of the holdovers from last season.
"I'm not happy with two false starts in the last two games, and it's not good enough," Cushman said on Monday. "And I know I'll definitely be more detailed and firm-footed during practice this week to fix that, and take that upon myself, but everyone else is doing great in that aspect, and we're doing a lot better."
That progress matters, especially because the Big 12 is where those problems grew worse a year ago. In the three non-conference games last season, UCF drew five false starts. That’s already just one more than this year’s total after three games.
Offensive line coach AJ Blazek said back at local media day that he’s dealt with this issue before, and he explained the approach he uses to clean it up. He talked about changing the mindset of the linemen and using cadence to keep defenses honest.
“So when you change the mindset for the big guys, they don't go to the line going, ‘Oh, don't jump, don't jump. Oh, I jumped,’ you know, they go up there, and they're waiting,” Blazek said.
“‘Is my guy going to jump, or is he like I'm going to pounce this guy when he gets offsides.’ When you're using it as an offensive weapon, guys are much better at it.”
Cooper also pointed to the Georgia State game as a better example of the line handling movement, though he noted the Panthers “didn't move a whole bunch.” That fits with the numbers as they stand now: Georgia State is the weakest rushing defense UCF will see the rest of the season.
Pittsburgh, by contrast, is the toughest rushing defense on the schedule as things stand today. There are also Big 12 teams like Houston, BYU, Baylor and Iowa State that could present problems later on.
The key for UCF is that the line has already shown it can create room when the defense stays relatively still, opening lanes for backs like Duke Watson. The challenge now is doing it against fronts that move more and force the Knights to adjust on the fly.
Cooper said Tuesday that the unit still has “room to grow,” but also made clear he expects that growth to come.
UCF gets its next chance to prove it on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., when it opens Big 12 play against TCU.
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