{"id":889660,"date":"2026-10-21T05:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T05:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/889660\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T05:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T05:20:13","slug":"what-ucf-head-coach-scott-frost-said-ahead-of-facing-byu-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/889660\/","title":{"rendered":"What UCF head coach Scott Frost said ahead of facing BYU \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

UCF\u2019s homecoming game just got a lot bigger.<\/p>\n

The Knights will host No. 2 BYU fresh off the Cougars\u2019 28-24 upset win over Notre Dame<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When asked in his Monday press conference how he helps his players not get too pumped up to play the No. 2 team in the country, UCF head coach Scott Frost didn\u2019t sound too worried.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s homecoming,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the Big 12. Everybody\u2019s pretty close. I think BYU is the best of the bunch, obviously. There\u2019s some arguments to be made for some other teams too, but I think they\u2019ve done a really good job.<\/p>\n

Cougars on the air<\/p>\n

No. 2 BYU (6-0, 3-0) at UCF (3-3, 1-2)<\/p>\n

Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MDTAt Acrisure Bounce HouseTV: FoxRadio: 102.7 FM\/1160 AM<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re big and long and physical. They got a really good quarterback. There\u2019s no holes. They\u2019re solid players everywhere. They know what they\u2019re doing. They\u2019re well-coached. It\u2019s an awesome opportunity for us on homecoming to go shoot our shot and I think our kids will be excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frost rooted for the Big 12 while he watched BYU\u2019s victory over Notre Dame, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was a really good win for BYU and for our league,\u201d he said. \u201cI was happy for Kalani and that group. Looked like a special environment. Really good game against two really good teams, and BYU came out on top. It was good for the Big 12.\u201d<\/p>\n

BYU is the highest-ranked team UCF has ever hosted, surpassing the 2007 No. 6-ranked Texas Longhorns, according to On3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think BYU deserves to be ranked where they are,\u201d Frost said. \u201cI think it ought to be based on your record and your wins and losses, and they\u2019ve won everyone that they\u2019ve played. So, they deserve it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCF\u2019s areas to improve<\/p>\n

UCF starting quarterback Alonza Barnett III has missed the last four games due to a hamstring injury and is expected to miss the game against BYU, according to ESPN\u2019s Pete Thamel<\/a>. Keyone Jenkins has started in Barnett\u2019s place.<\/p>\n

The Knights are coming off their bye week and are 3-3 this season with wins against Bethune-Cookman, Georgia State and TCU and losses to Pittsburgh, Houston and Oklahoma State. Of UCF\u2019s three losses this season, two have been by 10 points or fewer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve played well enough to win, and we haven\u2019t played well enough to win,\u201d Frost said. \u201cI\u2019m happy with our team\u2019s effort. I think we can find a little more. That\u2019s part of the reason I want them to be fresh. But when you think you\u2019re giving everything you have, usually there\u2019s more in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frost attributed it to mentality and injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we get into situations where we\u2019re ahead or have a shot in the fourth quarter, we can\u2019t just play the same as we\u2019ve been playing,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s where it\u2019s got to get really intense and our guys got to look for opportunities to make plays and and make a few more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c… We\u2019ve had several opportunities where we can make one play here or there that would have flipped a couple of these games. I want our guys hunting for those opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

On facing Bear Bachmeier<\/p>\n

Frost had high praise for BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier, calling him one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Against UCF last year, Bachmeier completed 21 out of 25 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cBear played really well against us,\u201d Frost said. \u201cHe\u2019s played well since he\u2019s got there. He\u2019s unique because he can really throw it, but he\u2019s big and he can take off and run it when he needs to. They run some options with him and you know they count on him to run it when they need a play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frost added that his defense will need to make a few plays to keep Bachmeier and BYU\u2019s offense off the field.<\/p>\n

He also called BYU the \u201cdeepest team\u201d UCF has faced so far this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re bigger and longer than some of the other teams we\u2019ve played,\u201d he said. \u201cThat makes it hard to run the ball up the middle, to stop the run just with their size and and the depth that they can throw at you.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of good teams in this league and there\u2019s not much difference between anybody. But there\u2019s some definitely unique things about BYU that make them really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back at the last matchup between BYU and UCF<\/p>\n

When asked about last season\u2019s 41-21 loss in Provo<\/a>, Frost first credited the environment at BYU.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a fun game,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat a cool environment out there. My hat\u2019s off to them because, not only they\u2019re a good team, but that their fans were great. It was just a good environment. I think their players are good people. The coaches are good people. It\u2019s a fun game to play because of some of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCF had a 14-0 lead before BYU scored its first touchdown of the game in the second quarter. On the Knights\u2019 next drive, wide receiver Duane Thomas Jr. threw an interception on a trick play. <\/p>\n

UCF kept its lead after a missed field goal by BYU, but their luck quickly changed. Their next three possessions ended in punts, including one that BYU returned for a touchdown, giving BYU a 31-14 lead.<\/p>\n

The Knights were never able to recover.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to even have a chance against team like this, you got to play well in all three phases and you got to play well for four quarters,\u201d Frost said. \u201cWe played a really good first quarter and played good in stretches some other times, but we were a little outmanned and outgunned last year. And I think we\u2019ve gotten better. So, we got to try to have the same kind of start and sustain it through four quarters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"UCF Knights head coach Scott Frost talks with BYU head coach Kalani Sitake before the game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UCF\u2019s homecoming game just got a lot bigger. The Knights will host No. 2 BYU fresh off the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":889661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[8793,99],"class_list":["post-889660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-news-feed-national","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}