The UCF Knights defeated the Georgia State Panthers 44-30 on Saturday at the Acrisure Bounce House. After trailing at halftime, the Knights outscored the Panthers 24-6 and had three interceptions.
“Nobody panicked at halftime,” UCF Coach Scott Frost said. “There’s gonna be a lot of games like that. Everybody’s so close and you gotta find ways to play close games.”
Despite Knights starting quarterback Alonza Barnett III not playing due to injury, UCF was able to win with FIU transfer Keyone Jenkins under center. Jenkins threw for only 86 yards with one touchdown pass and an interception, but he added two touchdowns on the ground.
“I thought [Jenkins] did pretty well,” Frost said. “He’s played a lot of football and that shows. He didn’t throw a ton tonight because of the nature of the game, but we certainly have a lot of plays that we trust him to throw in the game plan.”
UCF running back Duke Watson ran for a career-high 177 yards and two touchdowns in the win, averaging 12.6 yards per carry. As a whole, the Knights backfield had 304 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
“I thought the running backs played exceptionally well,” Frost said. “It was a really good scheme idea by our staff.”
The Knights defense got off to a strong start, stopping the Panthers offense on a fourth down attempt, giving them the ball on the Georgia State 34 yard line. A Keyone Jenkins touchdown was negated by a holding call, but a pass interference by the Panthers on fourth down gave UCF another chance to score. Watson took advantage of the new set of downs, rushing 14 yards for the Knights’ first score of the night.
After a false start on fourth and inches for the Panthers, they were forced to punt. Knights linebacker Jaleel Culbreath blocked the punt, giving UCF the ball in plus territory again at the Georgia State 17 yard line. However, UCF had to settle for a Will Stone field goal and extended the lead to 10.
Georgia State then bounced back after a rough first two drives with a 10 play, 75 yard drive capped off by a Rodshaun Dorsey touchdown catch. UCF responded with a six play, 76 yard drive of their own, with Jenkins finding Waden Charles wide open for a 30 yard touchdown to reclaim the 10 point lead.
The second quarter was all Georgia State, starting with a 14 play touchdown drive that took 7:13 off the clock and ended with another Dorsey score. UCF went three-and-out, and Panthers true freshman Qwantavius Wiggins ran 78 yards to the endzone to give them their first lead of the game.
UCF was able to cut the lead to one point on another Stone field goal, but Panthers kicker Samer Layous responded on the final play of the first half to put the Knights down 24-20 entering halftime.
To start the second half, Watson ran down the left sideline for a 63 yard touchdown to reclaim the lead for UCF.
“We had to come out and step it up a little,” Watson said. “In the locker room before we went out, [we said] that we needed some more points.”
Another strong run from Wiggins set the Panthers up at the UCF 41. A pass interference penalty moved the ball into the red zone, but Georgia State had to settle for a field goal and tied the game at 27.
After a pair of three-and-outs, Jenkins threw the ball right to Panthers safety Donovan Faria for a pick on a third-down. On the next play, Georgia State’s quarterback Cameran Brown was intercepted by Tackett Curtis to give the Knights the ball back.
“Coach preaches takeaways and turnovers,” Curtis said. “It was good to be able to kind of get that spark for the defense and the team.”
Jenkins redeemed himself after his interception, finishing a nine play, 44 yard drive with a touchdown run on a quarterback keeper. In the third quarter, UCF outscored Georgia State by 11 points and 136 yards, 115 of which came from the rushing game.
Brown then threw another interception to the Knights defense, giving UCF another drive starting in Georgia State territory. After only throwing one interception in 2025, Brown had turnovers on back-to-back drives.
The Knights went down to the Georgia State six yard line, but Frost settled for a field goal attempt. Stone knocked it through the uprights for his third make of the night, giving UCF a 10 point lead.
Georgia State sustained a 12 play drive and were able to cut the lead back to seven on a field goal from Samer Layous. The onside kick attempt failed, giving UCF the ball while the Panthers had all three timeouts.
Knights safety Landen Chambers called game on a 35 yard run, setting up Jenkins for another touchdown rush. On the last play of the game, Demari Henderson caught his second interception of the game to seal the victory.
“I was going for it,” Henderson said. “I missed one at BCU, so I needed that one back.”
Next up
The Knights have their first Big 12 game of the season at home against the TCU Horned Frogs next Saturday. UCF won its only game against TCU in 2024 under Gus Malzahn.
“There’s so much parity in the Big 12,” Frost said. “There are tight games and it really comes down to a play or two. We’re gonna be in more games like that. We gotta make sure we keep the guys fresh and just keep getting better.”
Kick-off against TCU is set for 3:30 on September 26.