UCF found its formula Saturday, and it started where the Knights have wanted it to start all season: on the ground.
Duke Watson delivered the biggest game of his career, piling up 177 rushing yards and two touchdowns as UCF beat Georgia State 44-30. The Knights leaned hard on the run game, and the payoff was a second-half reset after a shaky opening 30 minutes.
Keyone Jenkins handled the offense in place of Alonza Barnett III, who is out for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury. The senior transfer from FIU accounted for three touchdowns, including two on the ground, giving UCF enough juice to keep control even as the passing game never fully took off.
The win came with a split personality. Georgia State gashed UCF in the first half, putting up 24 points and 323 yards. Then the Knights flipped the script after halftime, limiting the Panthers to 162 yards and six points.
That turnaround mattered, because the first half showed plenty of the same issues UCF has been trying to clean up. Georgia State scored 27 points on five straight possessions, including two long drives that ate more than 12 minutes combined. Cameran Brown had UCF on its heels, throwing for 167 yards and two touchdowns while Qwantavius Wiggins added 84 rushing yards and a score.
Scott Frost said the response in the locker room was steady, not frantic.
“Our whole group did a good job of staying calm and being businesslike. Nobody panicked at halftime and nobody got frustrated with somebody else at halftime,” said coach Scott Frost.
“That game is going to serve us well down the stretch in the Big 12 season. There’s going to be a lot of games like that because everybody’s so close and you got to find ways to win close games.”
The defensive front still has work to do. UCF finished with only a pair of sacks and four tackles for loss in the second half, and the Knights now rank 58th nationally in sacks with 6 and 45th in tackles for loss with 18.
Up front on offense, though, UCF looked much more settled after making changes. Connor Meadows moved from center to right guard, and Jacob Maiava took over at center. The reshuffle helped the Knights protect Jenkins, who wasn’t sacked, while the offense rolled up 304 rushing yards and 7.6 yards per carry.
Owen Spell, who started the first two games at right guard, has been dealing with plantar fasciitis, according to Frost.
“It’s great having Maiava and Connor Meadows able to move to guard because we’re going to need a lot of those guys down the stretch,” said Frost. “I don’t get to just watch the offensive line much, but we’ve got a lot of confidence in all the guys up front.”
Watson said the group played with a different edge.
“We were just more focused, more physical,” added Watson. “I felt like we were way more physical than last week, way more intent on our assignment.”
Jenkins gave UCF the early spark it needed, but his afternoon still had rough patches. He opened by completing four of his first six passes, including a 30-yard touchdown to Waden Charles late in the first quarter. After that, he completed only 3 of his final 11 attempts and threw an interception.
Even so, he made the most of his legs, running for 25 yards and scoring twice. It was his second career multi-touchdown rushing game since he scored two against Bethune-Cookman on Aug. 29, 2025.
“He didn’t get to throw it a whole lot tonight because of the nature of the game,” said Frost. “We certainly had a lot of plays that we trust him to throw in the game plan.
It just kind of turned into that kind of game. We’ve got to let him probably let it loose a little more if we’re going to win some more games down the stretch.”
“I’m real comfortable with the offense. I love the progression game we got. If y’all see more of that, it’s gonna be real scary,” added Jenkins.
The biggest swing came from turnovers. After coming away empty in the loss at Pittsburgh, UCF forced three against Georgia State.
Tackett Curtis grabbed his first career interception late in the third quarter to set up the go-ahead touchdown. Demari Henderson intercepted another pass early in the fourth, leading to a field goal, then added a second pick at the end of the game to close it out.
The Knights are 2-0 this season when they win the turnover battle.
Special teams also kept giving UCF an edge. Jahleel Culbreath blocked a punt by Georgia State’s Christian Teeter in the first quarter, which led to a UCF field goal. It was UCF’s first blocked punt since Sept. 6, 2025, against North Carolina A&T.
Matt Stone stayed perfect, making field goals from 24, 29 and 40 yards to move to 4 for 4 on the season. Atticus Bertrams averaged 50.3 yards on three punts, and Taevion Swint continued to stand out on kickoff returns, averaging 31.7 yards per return after piling up 88 yards against Georgia State.
UCF is 2-1 heading into Big 12 play, with TCU coming to Orlando on Saturday.
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