Late in the loss to Pitt, the UCF Knights suffered an even larger loss. Starting quarterback Alonza Barnett went down with an injury. The hope was that it would turn out to be a relatively minor injury, but now they’ve learned he’s expected to miss multiple weeks.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Monday that Barnett suffered a hamstring injury. A timetable for his return is up in the air, but he’s expected to miss multiple weeks.
“Sources: UCF quarterback Alonza Barnett III is expected to be out multiple weeks with a hamstring injury, which occurred late in UCF’s loss to Pitt on Saturday. His timetable for return isn’t certain. Barnett is a veteran quarterback who led James Madison to the CFP last year,” Thamel reported.
The hope for UCF and head coach Scott Frost was the Barnett would stabilize the quarterback situation for the Knights. After all, this is a team that was forced to play four different quarterbacks in 2025. However, with his injury, that quarterback position looks up in the air again.
In two games at UCF this season, Barnett has overseen a blowout win over FCS Bethune-Cookman and a close loss to Pitt. In that time, he’s completing 63.3% of his passes for 344 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. He also has 22 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground.
The UCF Knights Backup QB Options
When the UCF Knights were forced to replaced Alonza Barnett against Pitt, they turned to Keyone Jenkins. It stands to reason, they’ll go with him again next week when the Knights take on Georgia State.
Jenkins is the most experienced backup quarterback that UCF has on its roster. He spent three seasons at FIU as their primary starting quarterback, and by the time he left that school, he was tied for second all-time in touchdown passes at the program.
However, UCF does have several other interesting options in the quarterback room this year. That includes Kaleb Annett. A transfer from Boise State, he had a good offseason, though he has yet to see action at the college level and generally lacks experience.
Another quarterback who lacks experience but has high upside is freshman Rocco Marriott. The highest-ranked quarterback recruit in UCF history, Marriott was given a .9020 composite ranking by 247 Sports, which made him the 23rd-ranked quarterback in that recruiting cycle. Scott Frost also previously praised him.
“He’s obviously a big, strong, fast athlete. And you throw somebody into a college football scheme and system offensively where they have to run things and know everything, and there’s always a tendency to maybe play a little slower, be tentative, make some mistakes,” Frost said this summer.
“And I’ve really seen him turn a corner from just his confidence and knowing what to do and then letting it rip. So hopefully we can keep pushing him forward and expect good things from him.”
Dante Carr is another freshman on the roster for UCF. However, the Knights are doubtful to play him this season.
UCF HC Scott Frost Shouldered the Blame for Offensive Struggles vs. Pitt
In the middle of a rainstorm, UCF was only able to score 7 points against Pitt. That was with next to no running game and an offensive line struggling to create time for Alonza Barnett. After the game, Scott Frost put the blame on his own shoulders.
“We just made a few plays, honestly, down the stretch,” Scott Frost said. “I think there’s a lot that we have to look at and reconsider. We’ve got to play better on offense. That starts with me and the offensive staff. I just didn’t think we clicked. We looked clumsy getting lined up, motioning.”
UCF had just 206 yards of offense on Saturday. That includes just 20 rushing yards. They were also 4 of 13 on third down and 0 for 3 on fourth down.
“So, we’ve got to take a hard look at whether we had too much in the game plan, if the weather had a lot to do with it. It just didn’t look clean. And against a defense like that, if you’re not clean, you’re not going to hit.” Frost said.
“We’ve got to establish more of a run game than that. In general, I’m so happy with how the defense played. If they give us that kind of effort on the road — I think we gave up 10 points — we’ve got to find a way to win them.”
UCF will look to bounce back next week against Georgia State. After that, the Knights need to be ready for Big 12 play.
UCF Injury Update: Status of Starting QB Alonza Barnett Revealed