Two minutes into the second quarter of their first game of the season against New Hampshire, the Knights had a total of 90 yards on offense, 82 on the ground, and only eight passing yards.
New Knights quarterback KJ Jefferson came to UCF with a lot of hype around him coming from Arkansas. Everyone knows he can run the ball with the stature he has, but he came with a lot of passing accolades from Arkansas including holding the record for passing percentage and passing yards.
Well, in his first game with UCF, Jefferson seems to have forgotten how to throw a football because the only pass he completed in the first quarter was a lateral pass to running back RJ Harvey who ran it for eight yards.
Jefferson is probably a great passer and head coach Gus Malzahn probably doesn't want to show his hand in the first game of the season, but only three completions in the first half have to be some sort of mistake. The run game is obviously the biggest threat for the UCF offense, but the Knights still need to be able to throw the ball and right now it doesn't even look like they can.
The only upside for Jefferson in the first half is that he had one rushing touchdown in the first half, but that was thanks to an interception by Cincinnati transfer Deshawn Pace. The interception was run back all the way to the three-yard line and it was an easy run-in for the 250-pound quarterback.
Welcome to Orlando, @Deshawn_pac3 https://t.co/qq19PVcqzZ pic.twitter.com/87ZXkkKD3p
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) August 30, 2024
Named the preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Jefferson was hyped up a lot in the offseason by his teammates and by Malzahn himself. Malzahn talked about how Jefferson was the perfect fit for the Knights's offense with his rushing threat and his big arm. That big arm literally has yet to be seen.
This is honestly an embarrassing outing at the quarterback position for Jefferson in the first half. Gus Malzahn is going to have a lot of questions coming his way. The New Hampshire quarterback, who is arguably going up against a tougher defense, is 8-for-15 for 48 yards and just one interception at the end of the first half while Jefferson is 3-for-8 with 69 passing yards and 30 rushing yards, and a touchdown.
This is not how the UCF offense wanted to start the season on the passing end of the offense. The run game has been phenomenal in the first half with 199 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The defense also allowed just three points in the first half and had an interception returned for 37 yards and special teams had a blocked punt for a safety.
Hopefully, something is said at halftime to remind Jefferson that he is a Division 1 Power Four conference quarterback who is capable of throwing the ball because this is New Hampshire, it will be worse when they are playing against Big 12 opponents.
UCF leads at the half 29-3 and will kick off to New Hampshire at the start of the second half.