The UCF Knights had more than one issue in 2025 that head coach Scott Frost is trying to iron out before the 2026 season. Among the biggest was struggling with penalties.
UCF was charged with 57.1 penalty yards per game. That was just 86th nationally. However, the Knights were also called for a total of 91 penalties, which was tied for 107th in the country. Many of those either ended drives early or extended opponents’ drives, largely contributing to the 5-7 record.
On Tuesday, Frost admitted that penalties were once again an issue in practice. So, for now, it’s a work in progress.
“It was an issue today,” Scott Frost said. “It wasn’t terrible today, but I don’t like one of them. We’ve got to continue to work on that.”
Frost added that he believes building confidence and comfort with the fundamentals is the key for UCF. Once the Knights have those down, they’ll be less likely to make penalties because they’ll be comfortable on the field.
“I’ll say, when you’ve got guys that are reliable, you have a lot better chance of having them be reliable in those situations, too. And when guys are really confident in what they’re doing and they’re not thinking about 100 things and forgetting snap counts to key the football. That goes in with the fundamentals we’re talking about. I want guys really comfortable in knowing their assignments so they can go play fast, but they can also stay calm and wait for the right time to attack,” Frost said.
UCF Knights HC Scott Frost Believes His Team is Maturing
GettyUCF Knights head coach Scott Frost at the Peach Bowl
Part of the issue last season for the UCF Knights was a seeming lack of maturity. It was Scott Frost’s first season running the program again, and with a relatively young team, mistakes like penalties are liable to happen.
Now, UCF is a much more mature team. Frost believes that should go a long way to helping the injury issue.
“Absolutely,” Frost said. “Guys that have been in situations react better. I think we’re intentionally really old, particularly on defense, and I can see the benefit of that already in practice.”
The hope for UCF is that their maturity and experience will help in every aspect of the season, not just penalties. After all, per SP+, UCF is 29th in returning production with 61% coming back from a season ago. That includes 61% on offense and 60% on defense. Of course, returning production isn’t a measure of how good that production was, just how much is coming back.
The UCF Offensive Line was a Major Reason for Penalty Issues
GettyUCF Knights mascot Knightro
The UCF offensive line ended up being the biggest reason why the Knights had so many issues in regards to penalties. In particular, mental mistakes like false starts and illegal formations, which kill drives.
For offensive coordinator Steve Cooper, the fix to the offensive line is going to come in the form of continuity. That means finding a consistent starting unit during Fall Camp and before the regular season begins.
“The biggest thing is getting in sync as an offense,” Cooper said. “And obviously, it starts up front. What you want to have is a collection of guys that have a lot of continuity with the guy to the left and to the right. So it’s as simple as, when the ones are up, let’s get the ones rolling. Of course, there’s going to be a handful of times where you might need a substitution. A guy has got to run and go get Gatorade, or he’s got to get his hand taped, that kind of thing.”
UCF will have just a couple of more weeks to figure things out up front. The season begins on September 3rd against Bethune-Cookman.
UCF Scott Frost Critical of Progress Fixing Major Weakness Ahead of 2026 Season