- Head coach: Gus Malzahn (Fourth season)
- 2023 record: 6-7 (Lost Gasparilla Bowl)
- PFF power ranking: 44th
- Chance to win the Big 12: 6%
- Strength of schedule: 91st
- Projected win total: 7.1
- FanDuel win total: 7.5
- 2024 recruiting rank (On3): No. 32 nationally, No. 2 in the Big 12
While UCF suffered its first losing season in seven years, the Knights still made the smoothest transition to the Big 12 in 2023 among the new members.
UCF was the lone Group of Five transfer to make a bowl game. If the Knights are to get back to their winning ways in 2024, it’ll likely be on the back of what should be one of the best rushing attacks in the nation. UCF has a three-headed monster in its backfield in RJ Harvey, Toledo transfer Peny Boone and Arkansas transfer KJ Jefferson along with great depth at running back. The Knights have some question marks that they’ll need to answer defensively, specifically at the first and second levels, to achieve another winning season.
Click here for more college football:
NCAA Power Rankings | NCAA Premium Stats | NCAA Betting Dashboards 2024 CFB Schedule | News and Analysis | The PFF College Football Show
Biggest Strength: Elite run game
UCF has the second-best running back unit in college football, with RJ Harvey and Toledo transfer Peny Boone leading the way. They were two of the 10 leading rushers in the country last season at running back. No other school has two in the top 30. New quarterback KJ Jefferson is also a serious threat on the ground, with his 2,280 rushing yards since 2021 ranking second among Power Five signal-callers to only Jayden Daniels.
Biggest Weakness: Front seven
UCF’s front seven mostly struggled last year, finishing 82nd in the FBS in PFF grade as a unit. The Knights also lost four of their nine defensive tackles, edge defenders and linebackers who played at least 300 snaps for them last year. None of the FBS front-seven players they added in the transfer portal earned 60.0-plus PFF grades in 2023, either.
2023 Team Overview
Offense |
||||
| EPA per play | Yards per play | Successful play rate | Explosive run play rate | Explosive pass play rate |
| 0.157 | 7.0 | 39.6% | 20.3% | 18.9% |
| 13th | 8th | 15th | 11th | 17th |
Defense |
||||
| EPA allowed per play | Yards allowed per play | Successful play rate allowed | Explosive run rate allowed | Explosive pass rate allowed |
| 0.022 | 5.8 | 37.8% | 18.6% | 12.8% |
| 87th | T-75th | 119th | 125th | 40th |
Three Notable Transfer Portal Additions
- QB KJ Jefferson (Arkansas): 77.6 PFF grade
- RB Peny Boone (Toledo): 88.2 PFF grade
- S Deshawn Pace (Cincinnati): 70.5 PFF grade
Three Notable Transfer Portal Losses
- CB Corey Thornton (Louisville): 76.2 PFF grade
- S Nikai Martinez (Michigan State): 62.3 PFF grade
- EDGE Josh Celiscar (Texas A&M): 65.6 PFF grade
Quarterback Spotlight: KJ Jefferson
2023 Grade: 77.6
Key Stat: 91.4 PFF overall grade from 2021-2022 (11th in FBS)
DOMINATE FANTASY FOOTBALL & BETTING WITH AI-POWERED DATA & TOOLS TRUSTED BY ALL 32
Unlimited Fantasy League Sync
Fantasy Start/Sit Line-Up Optimizer & Waiver Wire
WR-CB & OL-DL Matchups, PFF Player Grades, & Premium Stats 2.0 Tools
Nathan Jahnkes Rankings - #1 Most Accurate Last 70 Weeks
PFF Best Bets, Player Props, & Power Ranking Tools
NFL Mock Draft Sim with Trades & Draft Grades
Already have a subscription? Log In
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.