Central Florida is easing into Scott Frost’s second tenure as its head coach.
After a shaky opening victory over Jacksonville State, UCF (1-0) has a date with struggling FCS squad North Carolina A&T (0-1) on Saturday night in Orlando, Fla.
There is uncertainty at quarterback for UCF as opening game starter Cam Fancher, a transfer who started two seasons at Marshall and last year at Florida Atlantic, was injured in the second quarter.
With Fancher sidelined, Indiana transfer Tayven Jackson completed 17 of 24 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, leading the Knights to a 17-10 victory.
On a Thursday radio show, Frost confirmed that Fancher will not play Saturday.
“Cam’s going to be out this week,” Frost said on SiriusXM’s Dusty and Danny in the Morning. “He just kind of landed on his back funny and has some back issues that I think are going to go away fairly soon, but we’re going into the game with Tayven and JB (Jacurri Brown), and that’s fine. Tayven did a great job coming in and replacing him last week and he’s getting another shot this week.”
Frost credited Jackson for being prepared in his backup role after showing disappointment when he was told that Fancher would start the opener.
“I saw an uptick in him,” Frost said. “If it takes something to get him angry to get him to play the way he played, then I’m going to keep him angry all the time.”
After Saturday’s game, Frost will have additional time to evaluate Fancher as the Knights have a bye week before hosting Bill Belichick and North Carolina and then embarking on their Big 12 schedule.
North Carolina A&T, which has yet to win a conference game in 16 tries since joining the Coastal Athletic Association in 2023, is on an 11-game skid.
The Aggies had a chance to end the streak last Saturday at Tennessee State but Andrew Brown’s late 38-yard field-goal attempt was blocked, resulting in a 24-21 loss.
The big positive for the Aggies was the play of quarterback Braxton Thomas, who came off the bench to run for a touchdown and throw for another score. Thomas completed 11 of 13 passes for 169 yards without an interception. Thomas did lose a fumble — one of three fumbles the Aggies lost.
The blocked kick and turnovers were “the recipe for getting your butt kicked,” head coach Shawn Gibbs said after his North Carolina A&T debut.
–Field Level Media
