Alonza Barnett III’s wait to get back under center will stretch at least one more week, and UCF is set to face its biggest test of the season without him.
Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Knights will start Keyone Jenkins against No. 2 BYU on Saturday. Barnett has been dealing with a lingering hamstring injury and has now missed five straight games.
Coach Scott Frost said Barnett is making "really good progress" in his recovery, but the redshirt senior remains on the sideline for now. He has stayed active around the team throughout the injury, coaching up teammates each week and doing the same sort of sideline work he handled during spring camp when the staff held him out of practice.
UCF has taken the long view with Barnett, choosing to protect his health while he works back. The James Madison transfer said he has been taking mental reps from the sideline, tracking how the wide receivers finish their routes and break out of them.
For the Knights, though, Jenkins is the man who has kept the offense moving. The senior has gotten better with every start since stepping in for Barnett. His first outing, against Georgia State, was uneven: 86 passing yards, one touchdown through the air and two scores on the ground.
After that game, Frost and offensive coordinator Steve Cooper changed the plan to fit Jenkins more cleanly, leaning on short and intermediate throws to get the ball out fast.
That tweak paid off. Jenkins followed with back-to-back 200-yard performances against ranked opponents No.
20 Houston and No. 18 Oklahoma State, then set a season high with four passing touchdowns against Oklahoma State.
Now he heads into homecoming with real confidence and real experience. This is no longer a backup trying to survive. Jenkins has developed into a quarterback who can run the offense cleanly and go toe-to-toe with some of the Big 12’s best.
UCF will host BYU at Acrisure Bounce House in a matchup that brings the highest-ranked opponent ever to Orlando.
The Knights are also staring at their toughest challenge since 2009, when they fell 35-3 to No. 2 Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
In Other News...
BYU Faces A Dangerous UCF Test With Unbeaten Start On The Line
BYUs win over Notre Dame sent the Cougars soaring in the AP Poll and set up one of the more intriguing games on the Week 8 slate against UCF. The matchup has plenty of appeal beyond the rankings, with Bear Bachmeiers play at quarterback drawing attention and BYUs overall profile getting a fresh round of scrutiny as the unbeaten start continues to gather momentum.
From UCFs side, there is at least a reasonable path to making this a much tougher night than the national perception suggests. The Knights have shown enough in the underlying numbers to make people around the betting market take notice, and the question now is whether they can turn that into a result that would shake up the top end of the college football conversation. [Read more 🡒]
UCFs BYU Upset Hopes Suddenly Hinge On One Bye Week Decision
The bye week arrived at a good time for UCF, with the Knights trying to line up as much help as possible before facing unbeaten BYU. Quarterback Alonza Barnett III, wide receiver Duane Thomas Jr. and linebacker Lewis Carter have all been working back from injury, giving Scott Frost and his staff a few important decisions to sort through as the matchup approaches.
Frost said Barnett is making really good progress, but he stopped short of saying whether the quarterback will be ready to start against the Cougars. Thomas and Carter are also in the mix as possible returnees after missing time, and their availability could shape both sides of the ball for a UCF team trying to find enough firepower and stability to challenge BYU. [Read more 🡒]
UCF Is Handing Its Backcourt To Two New Faces
UCF is leaning on two new guards to help steer its season, with Johnny Dawkins naming Arturo Dean and Cayden Vasko as captains for the year ahead. Both arrived through the transfer portal with different resumes and similar expectations: Dean brings backcourt experience from stops at Florida International and Oklahoma State, while Vasko comes over from Wofford with a reputation for running an offense cleanly and fitting into different roles.
The pairing gives the Knights a fresh leadership structure in a backcourt that also includes returners Riley Kugel, Carmelo Pacheco and John Bol. For a roster trying to blend new faces with holdovers, the captaincy choice says plenty about where Dawkins wants the tone set, even if the real test will come once the guards start having to prove it on the floor. [Read more 🡒]