UCF Football Preview 2025: Scott Frost is Back Where He Belongs
Yeah, why not give it another shot?Scott Frost had to take the Nebraska gig. He legitimately didn't seem like he wanted to leave UCF after what he built in two seasons - who moves from Orlando, Florida, to Lincoln, Nebraska? - but that was his school, his home, and his program.The guy was born in Lincoln.But for a whole slew of reasons, it just didn't work.
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The talent level wasn't there at Nebraska. The Big Ten was good, and Frost's teams invented creative and fun ways to gack away tight games.Out of the 31 Husker losses under Frost from 2019 to three games into the 2022 season, 23 of them were by one score. Less famously, out of the 16 wins, just two were against teams that finished with winning records, and 2018 Minnesota and Michigan State both finished 7-6.It also should've worked when Gus Malzahn took over UCF in 2021.Auburn hasn't exactly been booking College Football Playoff tickets since he was let go. It was a great hire for the Knights, he won nine games in each of his first two seasons, and the UCF football program was introduced to two things. Reality, and the Big 12.
When UCF was rocking, it won a big then-called Power Five game here and there, but that was the point all along in the big years under Frost and later Josh Heupel.The weekly grind of dealing with Power talent is brutal. Over the last two years since the move up in weight class, UCF is 5-14 against Power conference teams, and two of those came against fellow AAC transfers Houston and Cincinnati in 2023.
But UCF is going into Year Three of the Power conference life. It's building up the talent with more good transfers, the program overall is getting stronger, and sort of like the 0-12 thing Frost walked into after the 2016 season, the overall situation is far, far better than it seems.And taking over 2025 UCF is more turn-key than trying to make 2018 Nebraska rock.Scott Frost is back at UCF. Here we go. UCF Offense BreakdownUCF Defense BreakdownSeason Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season
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