The UCF Knights will open their second season in the Big 12 on Thursday, hosting the New Hampshire Wildcats on their home field at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
The Knights have high expectations this season after spending the summer acquiring key pieces through prior commitments from high-school targets or transfer portals.
UCF hopes this new batch of players will make them more capable of competing against traditional football powerhouses in the Big 12, such as Arizona, Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State.
But aside from several exciting games on the Knights’ calendar, there are plenty of reasons to watch the Knights season-opening match against New Hampshire. Of course, it would take a longer article to explain at length the importance of this game for the UCF and its larger community. So, we highlighted the three best reasons this game is a must-see for any UCF Knights fan.
GAMEDAY pic.twitter.com/nI6KiK4sDn
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) August 29, 2024
Opening Night Vibe
For the fourth consecutive year, the UCF Knights will kick off their college football season on their home turf at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
The place is going to be raucous as thousands of UCF fans will flock to the 45,000-capacity stadium, cheering their hearts out on their team from the opening kick through the final whistle.
To drum up more interest in the game, UCF Football posted a hype video early Thursday on social media platform X that showcases the team’s gruelling preparation and introduces the players primed to make a huge impact this season.
Football is BACK pic.twitter.com/gAfYb6gbnO
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) August 28, 2024
KJ Jefferson UCF Debut Game
KJ Jefferson is set to make his much-awaited debut with UCF on Thursday. The senior quarterback announced in January that he would transfer to UCF after five productive seasons with the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Jefferson, who holds multiple passing records with the Razorbacks, will be the focal point of UCF’s offence, which is expected to improve drastically from last season. The Knights have cleverly flanked Jefferson with talented receivers led by senior wide receiver Kobe Hudson.
Wideout Ja’varrius Johnson and senior tight-end Reece Adkins will also play important roles since the team looks set to depend heavily on Jefferson’s playmaking ability.
A Big Win for the Knights?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pxVOLosFjw
UCF is listed at 40.5 points on Bovada, one of the biggest point spreads for the first week of the 2024–2023 college football season.
With a quarterback like KJ Jefferson, who broke multiple records as Arkansas’s top player, defeating a mediocre team in a weak league by as much as 40 points might not be as difficult as it seems. Remember, quarterback John Rhys Plumlee led the Knights to an emphatic 50-point win against Kent State in the previous season.
Jefferson, a considerably more talented signal-caller than Plumlee, has demonstrated during training camp that he can still lead a program to new heights with his superb vision and playmaking abilities.
He will be more effective this season if the players UCF surround him can complete most of his passes. Expect Jefferson to score as many as five touchdowns in this game, with Hudson as his prime downfield target. Our prediction for the UCF Knights vs. New Hampshire Wildcats: UCF to cover -40.5 points (-110) at Bovada.
