UCF’s kicking competition is one of the early battles worth watching in Orlando, and Noah McGough is right in the middle of it.
McGough enters 2026 after a redshirt season that barely got off the ground. He appeared in just one game for the Knights last year, the matchup against North Carolina A&T, where he drilled a garbage-time extra point and handled one kickoff that went for a touchback.
Before arriving at UCF, McGough built a reputation at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas as a dual-threat specialist of sorts - in his case, with both a football and soccer ball. As a senior with the Jesuit Dallas Rangers, he earned District 7-6A Special Teams Player of the Year honors for the second straight season, and he also picked up District 7-6A Co-Utility Player of the Year after putting up six goals and four assists.
Now the focus shifts to what he can do in the Knights’ kicking room. McGough is set to battle transfer Will Stone for the starting kicker job in 2026, and the split in responsibilities is pretty clear.
Stone has the edge on kickoffs after handling them all four years at Texas, while the field-goal job looks far more up for grabs. If McGough’s role expands this season, that’s the area where it figures to happen.
Special teams coordinator Pete Alamar made the competition sound straightforward after an April 7 practice session.
"We compete for all positions," Alamar said. "So, nothing's handed to you just because you're the senior from Texas over the freshman."
With fall camp just getting started in Orlando, the next few weeks will decide who gets the nod when UCF opens its season on Sep. 3 at 7 p.m. against Bethune-Cookman. For now, McGough is very much in the mix, and the field-goal race appears to be a true toss-up.
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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 🡒]