UCF’s secondary is turning heads early, and two Knights are landing among the best at their positions.
Through the first three weeks, Antione Jackson and Demari Henderson have helped power a defense that has made life miserable for opposing quarterbacks. UCF has held opponents to 16 points per game, and even after Georgia State put up a season-high 30 points on Saturday, the Knights answered with three interceptions.
That aggressive edge has already shown up in the numbers. UCF’s defense was graded inside the nation’s top 15 through the first two weeks with an 84.9, and on Monday both Jackson and Henderson showed up on Pro Football Network’s position grades. Jackson earned a 91.5, which placed him No. 10 among cornerbacks, while Henderson’s 90.6 was good for No. 9 among safeties.
Henderson delivered the biggest splash in Saturday’s 44-30 win over Georgia State. He picked off two passes and added seven tackles, becoming the second Knight in the last 18 years to post multiple two-interception games and just the fourth in program history, according to UCF Football’s X account. His outing also earned him Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors, UCF’s first weekly award of the season.
Jackson has been just as steady on the outside for defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s group. He has logged a pass defensed in all three games and was a key part of UCF’s defensive effort at Pittsburgh, where the Knights lost 12-7 in the rain but kept an explosive Panthers passing game out of the end zone.
Even without a takeaway yet, Jackson has embraced the mindset being pushed by first-year defensive backs coach David Overstreet II.
"His resume speaks for itself," Jackson said. "All the corners he coached, he coached corners with the most picks in the league, with all-pro corners because of the takeaways. So, he's very big on takeaways."
Overstreet brings NFL experience and has worked with top defensive backs such as Jaylon Johnson.
Now the challenge gets bigger. UCF heads into a Big 12 matchup with TCU, and the Horned Frogs are starting to settle in after a rough Week 1 in Ireland.
Harvard transfer quarterback Jaden Craig was slow out of the gate in the opener, but he has found a rhythm over the last two games. He has thrown for at least 337 yards in each of his past two outings and tossed three touchdowns in TCU’s 31-7 win over Arkansas State on Saturday.
Craig also threw his first interception of the season, something UCF will be aiming to force again on Saturday.
In Other News...
How UCF Changed Daunte Culpepper's Path When Few Others Would
Daunte Culpeppers path to Central Florida almost never made it to the starting line. A difficult academic stretch in high school pushed several college programs to move on, but UCF stayed in the mix long enough to offer something more practical than a sales pitch: help. Former assistant Paul Lounsberry worked with Culpepper on the schoolwork side, a crucial bit of guidance that helped him clean up his grades and reopen the door to recruitment.
Once he arrived in Orlando, Culpeppers career took off in a way UCF could hardly have drawn up better. He went on to set multiple records and became the programs first first-round NFL draft pick, a milestone that still speaks to how much the Knights gained from sticking with him when others backed away. [Read more 🡒]
UCF Faces A Huge Test Against A Quarterback Who Can Change Everything
TCU arrives with a quarterback who has already forced the rest of the Big 12 to take notice, and UCF is preparing for the kind of challenge that can stress every layer of a defense. Jaden Craig has been one of the leagues most productive passers early in the season, and Scott Frost along with defensive coordinator Alex Grinch have pointed to the difficulty of matching up with a quarterback who can extend plays, stay composed in the pocket and punish hesitation.
For the Knights, the timing makes this one even trickier. UCF is still sorting through offensive line injuries while trying to steady its protection up front, and the offense is also chasing better results on third down. Against a TCU attack led by a quarterback with the ability to change the game in a hurry, that combination turns this into more than just another Big 12 matchup. [Read more 🡒]
UCF Enters Big 12 Play With A Tough Test Already Here
UCF heads into Big 12 play with a little early-season momentum and a few unfinished questions, having come through its non-conference slate at 2-1. Even with the offense still searching for a cleaner rhythm, the Knights showed composure in recent games, and head coach Scott Frost has kept the focus on steady improvement rather than overreacting to September growing pains.
The next step gets a lot tougher now, with conference games arriving against a schedule that will test that patience right away. Frost has already settled on transfer Keyone Jenkins at quarterback after the injury to Alonza Barnett III, and the Knights are still trying to sharpen their work on third and fourth downs as they enter a stretch where every possession is likely to matter a lot more. [Read more 🡒]