{"id":408088,"date":"2026-09-23T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T10:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/408088\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T10:00:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T10:00:49","slug":"ucf-sees-big-12-opener-versus-tcu-as-a-chance-to-earn-respect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/408088\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF sees Big 12 opener versus TCU as a chance to earn respect"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Scott Fros<\/a>t assesses UCF<\/a>\u2019s upcoming opponent, TCU, he notices a few similarities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur season and TCU\u2019s have been pretty close,\u201d Frost said Monday. \u201cWe\u2019ve both played a really tough game and lost a close one. We played an opponent we both had advantages over, did what we\u2019re supposed to do, and played a pretty good Group of Six team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had similar paths to get to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear the two teams have a lot in common.<\/p>\n

UCF kicked off the season with an impressive 73-6 win over Bethune-Cookman<\/a>, an FCS opponent, but then fell in a narrow 12-7 loss at Pittsburgh<\/a>. They followed that with a hard-fought 44-30 win over a determined Georgia State<\/a> squad on Saturday.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, TCU opened the season with a tough loss to North Carolina in Ireland, 15-10, that many considered a mild upset. The Horned Frogs bounced back to dominate Grambling, 63-7, before securing a 31-7 victory over Arkansas State this past weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth teams want to continue improving and getting better,\u201d said Frost. \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s showdown with TCU (2-1) also signifies the start of Big 12 competition for the Knights (2-1). It\u2019s also the first time that UCF has opened conference play at home. The Knights were on the road for their first league games the past three seasons.<\/p>\n

This is the second meeting between the two programs. UCF won at TCU 35-34 on Sept. 14, 2024.<\/p>\n

While a win Saturday (3:30 p.m., FS1) could help set the tone for the rest of the conference schedule, Frost isn\u2019t emphasizing it much, stating it\u2019s just another game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just another opportunity,\u201d Frost explained. \u201cOur team has a chance to earn it every week, earn some respect and earn what we want for our season. We\u2019re not looking at anything except this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Running back Duke Watson<\/a>, who leads the team with 297 rushing yards, believes there is plenty to prove.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to show the world what this team is,\u201d said Watson. \u201cWe\u2019re way different from last year. We\u2019re a different UCF. The offense is going to get more comfortable and the defense is always on. If we have each other\u2019s backs, we\u2019ll go a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to play our brand of football for all four quarters from start to finish,\u201d said added safety Demari Henderson, who had two interceptions against Georgia State.<\/p>\n

UCF\u2019s players have battled expectations since taking the field at the start of the season.<\/p>\n

Most national publications picked the Knights to finish in the bottom half of the Big 12 standings, while TCU was projected to finish in the top half. The Horned Frogs are coming off a 9-4 campaign and finished ninth in the conference last season.<\/p>\n

Senior offensive tackle Preston Cushman<\/a> believes this game could help raise the team\u2019s profile.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs (Frost) said, it\u2019s another game, another opportunity to put us on the map and just help us beat all the expectations, per se,\u201d said Cushman. \u201cPeople still have got us down, so we\u2019ve got to prove to everyone and earn it. It\u2019s like we say all the time, just earn it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That slogan is on T-shirts worn by players, including edge rusher Sincere Edwards.<\/p>\n

\"UCFUCF coach Scott Frost, left, looks to prepare his team for the Big 12 opener against TCU on Saturday. (Stephen M. Dowell\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a saying that we made this year, because we feel like we need to earn it, not for anybody else but for ourselves,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram at @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com<\/a>. Sign up for the Sentinel\u2019s Knights Weekly<\/a> newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.<\/p>\n

Up next<\/p>\n

What: TCU (2-1) at UCF (2-1)<\/p>\n

When: 3:30 p.m., Saturday<\/p>\n

Where: Acrisure Bounce House Stadium, Orlando<\/p>\n

TV: FS1<\/p>\n

Favorite: TCU by 3 points<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Scott Frost assesses UCF\u2019s upcoming opponent, TCU, he notices a few similarities. \u201cOur season and TCU\u2019s have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[111,28,114,1335,139,141,140,76046,110,3865],"class_list":["post-408088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-college-sports","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social-sports","tag-sports","tag-ucf-knights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}