Scott Frost didn’t have to look far for the biggest reasons behind UCF’s dominant Big 12 home opener against TCU. The plays that swung the game came from a group of Knights who all arrived during the Gus Malzahn era, and they showed up everywhere.
Braeden Marshall set the tone early with a fumble recovery on TCU’s first drive, giving UCF its first takeaway in a game that ended with four forced turnovers from the defense. The senior has 15 tackles so far, including 10 solo stops and five assisted, and he’s off to a strong start in his push to leave a hometown legacy.
Last season, Marshall had two interceptions, one of them the game-sealing pick against Oklahoma State on Senior Knight, when he helped send the seniors out with a final home win. This year, his younger teammates are trying to return the favor.
UCF turned that early turnover into points almost immediately. Taevion Swint finished the drive with the Knights’ first touchdown, taking a run to the outside and beating TCU defenders down the sideline.
The redshirt freshman is part of a deep backfield with Duke Watson and Landen Chambers, and his burst makes him a threat to break a play every time he touches the ball. He’s also handling kickoff returns for UCF.
Swint’s path to this moment hasn’t been simple. He missed his freshman season after an injury in fall camp, then worked his way back while trying to prove himself to the team and to his community.
The second touchdown came in the second quarter from tight end Caden Piening, who found space down the seam and kept driving through contact. The redshirt freshman now has 60 yards on four catches and has settled in as the second tight end behind Dylan Wade.
Demari Henderson also delivered in a big spot. On the play before quarterback Jaden Craig threw his second interception, defensive coordinator Alex Grinch dialed up a blitz that sent Henderson at Craig’s blindside, and the redshirt senior came away with a nine-yard sack on second-and-8.
It was the kind of impact play UCF has been getting from him in consecutive games. Last Saturday against Georgia State, Henderson picked off two passes and was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for that outing.
In Other News...
BYU May Be Getting A Much Different UCF Than Expected
UCF has spent much of this season looking like a far different team on one side of the ball, and that matters now with a run of ranked opponents on deck. The Knights have leaned on a defense that has been one of the leagues better scoring units, a sharp contrast to an offense that has lingered near the bottom of the Big 12 in yardage. For a team trying to stay afloat in conference play, that defensive backbone has become the reason the season still feels alive.
The challenge now is that the schedule does not give UCF much breathing room before BYU arrives. The Knights have to navigate back-to-back road trips first, and the way they handle those games will say plenty about what kind of test awaits the Cougars in Orlando. If the defense keeps holding up the way it has, BYU may be walking into a much tougher matchup than expected. [Read more 🡒]
UCF Just Earned Momentum And October Will Test Everything
UCF finally got a Big 12 breakthrough with its win over TCU, a result that offered some immediate relief and a little proof that the Knights can survive in this league. But the calendar is about to get a lot less forgiving, and head coach Scott Frost along with several players have already acknowledged that the stretch ahead will tell a much bigger story about where this team really stands.
October brings a run that will demand more than one encouraging afternoon, with the Knights staring at ranked opponents and the kind of road pressure that has bothered them before. The quarterback picture adds another layer, too, with Alonza Barnett III still sidelined and Keyone Jenkins set to keep the offense moving at Houston, where UCF will have to show the TCU win was a step forward and not just a brief pause in the grind. [Read more 🡒]
UCF Still Exposed One Big Question About TCUs Defense
TCUs defense had enough good moments in its Big 12 opener against UCF to keep the night from spiraling, especially after the Knights were held down on the ground and the Horned Frogs found a couple of big turnovers. For stretches, it looked like the kind of performance that can steady a team early in conference play, with TCUs front making UCF work for nearly every yard and creating the kind of chaos defenses are supposed to feed on.
But UCF still left the game with one obvious answer point, and it came through the air. Keyone Jenkins was almost flawless as a passer, completing 19 of 20 attempts, and that efficiency kept the Knights from ever feeling fully neutralized. Even with the turnovers and pressure, TCU never quite put the game completely under its control, which is why the larger question about how much this defense has really tightened up remains very much in play. [Read more 🡒]