By Positively Osceola Sports Staff<\/p>\n
LUBBOCK, TX \u2013 The UCF Knights (4-5, 1-5 Big 12) travel west to face one of their toughest challenges of the 2025 season on Saturday afternoon, taking on the No. 6 Texas Tech Red Raiders (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) at Jones AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.<\/p>\n
This marks the second-ever meeting between the programs \u2014 the first coming in 2023 when Texas Tech edged out UCF in a one-point thriller, 24\u201323. The Knights will aim to flip the script and secure their fourth-ever victory over an AP Top-10 opponent.<\/p>\n
Knights Aiming to Bounce Back<\/p>\n
After a heartbreaking 30\u201327 loss to Houston in last week\u2019s Space Game \u2014 the first defeat in the event\u2019s nine-year history \u2014 UCF looks to regroup under head coach Scott Frost. Despite the loss, senior defensive back Phillip Dunnam was electric, recording three interceptions (including a 43-yard pick-six), earning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.<\/p>\n
UCF\u2019s defense remains one of the team\u2019s bright spots, ranked 12th nationally in passing defense, allowing just 168.2 yards per game. The Knights have surrendered the fewest explosive plays (20+ yards) in the Big 12 this season.<\/p>\n
Edge rusher Malachi Lawrence continues to anchor UCF\u2019s front line, entering the matchup with 20 career sacks, ranking ninth among all active FBS players. The Knights\u2019 first-quarter dominance has been a calling card \u2014 they\u2019ve shut out opponents in seven of nine opening frames this season and allow just 2.3 first-quarter points per game, 11th best in the nation.<\/p>\n
UCF\u2019s fourth-quarter defense has also tightened up late, giving up the 14th fewest points nationally in the final period and holding opponents under 100 total yards in each of their last five fourth quarters.<\/p>\n
Offense Looking for Spark<\/p>\n
Offensively, the Knights have shown balance, averaging 402.6 total yards per game, with 186.3 rushing and 216.2 passing. The ground attack, featuring Jaden Nixon and Myles Montgomery, has delivered several long runs \u2014 Nixon alone has four touchdown runs of 50+ yards this season.<\/p>\n
Kicker Noe Ruelas has been one of the Knights\u2019 most consistent weapons, tying his career-long 54-yard field goal last week. He is the first UCF player ever to hit three field goals of 50+ yards in a single season.<\/p>\n
The Red Raiders, led by head coach Joey McGuire, are on a roll after a dominant 29\u20137 win over No. 8 BYU. Quarterback Behren Morton has thrown for 1,969 yards and 16 touchdowns this season, while running back Cameron Dickey powers the ground game with 867 yards and 11 touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Defensively, Tech boasts All-Big 12 standouts Jacob Rodriguez and David Bailey, part of a unit allowing just 12.6 points per game, third-best in the nation. The Raiders are the only FBS team this year with two wins over CFP Top 15 opponents, defeating BYU and Utah.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s at Stake<\/p>\n
A win in Lubbock would not only give UCF its fifth victory of the year \u2014 surpassing last season\u2019s total \u2014 but also mark the program\u2019s first road win of 2025 and a monumental triumph against a top-ranked opponent.<\/p>\n
It would also be UCF\u2019s first victory over an AP Top-10 team since its historic Peach Bowl win against No. 7 Auburn in 2018.<\/p>\n
Game Information<\/p>\n
Kickoff: Saturday, Nov. 15 \u2013 3:30 p.m. ET \/ 2:30 p.m. CT
Location: Jones AT&T Stadium \u2013 Lubbock, Texas
TV: FOX
Radio: FM 96.9 \/ AM 740 The Game \u2013 Play-by-play by Marc Daniels and analysis by Gary Parris
Spanish Radio: YouTube.com\/UCFKnights \u2013 Carlos Bohorquez & Sergio Ruiz Torres<\/p>\n
Positively Osceola\u2019s Take<\/p>\n
As the Knights hit the road for their final Big 12 stretch, Saturday\u2019s matchup against a surging Texas Tech team will be a true test of resilience and growth for Scott Frost\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n
With one of the nation\u2019s stingiest pass defenses, a disruptive edge rush, and a reliable leg in Ruelas, UCF has the pieces to make things interesting in Lubbock. If the Knights can limit turnovers and ignite their ground game early, they could make a little \u201cspace history\u201d of their own \u2014 this time under the bright West Texas sun.<\/p>\n
Stay tuned to Positively Osceola for live updates and postgame coverage from Lubbock as the Knights take on No. 6 Texas Tech.<\/p>\n
Photo Source: UCF Knights Football<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Positively Osceola Sports Staff LUBBOCK, TX \u2013 The UCF Knights (4-5, 1-5 Big 12) travel west to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-49379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lubbock","8":"tag-lubbock","9":"tag-lubbock-headlines","10":"tag-lubbock-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}