The players on the UCF football team have suffered through their fair share of emotional whiplash this season.

The roller coaster has been especially intense over the past three weeks. The Knights went from fans storming the field after upsetting then-No. 2 BYU in a 39-31 double-overtime win on Oct. 24 to fans storming the exits after a disappointing 41-9 loss to Baylor on Oct. 31.

Then this past weekend, UCF overcame a 25-point second-half rally by Kansas to beat the Jayhawks on a last-second touchdown pass from Alonza Barnett III to tight end Caden Piening. Kicker Will Stone’s extra point sealed the 33-32 win for the Knights, snapping a 12-game road losing streak.

With Arizona State (5-4, 3-3 Big 12) making its first visit to the Bounce House on Saturday, perhaps the biggest question facing UCF (5-4, 3-3 Big 12) this weekend is how to avoid another letdown.

“There’s definitely no time to take a breath now, so we need to double down on effort and intensity,” coach Scott Frost said Monday. “I’ll be really disappointed in all of us if we don’t play really hard and well on Saturday.”

It doesn’t take much to remind the players of the disappointment following the Baylor loss. The Bears had lost two straight games and were playing under an interim coach after Dave Aranda had been fired earlier in the week.

Much of the positive momentum around the UCF program after the BYU win disappeared after that loss. What was particularly troubling was UCF’s lack of energy, as the Knights seemed uncharacteristically listless.

“We came out a little bit flat versus Baylor, but we had a lot of juice and were ready to play Kansas the other day,” said senior offensive tackle Preston Cushman. “It’s really just the energy coming out of the gate and ready to put our best foot forward during the game versus Arizona State.

“It’s not coming out flat. We need energy, energy, energy. That’s what we preach.”

“We understand how big of a drop-off it was against Baylor and with the type of guys that we have on our team, we didn’t feel good about it,” added senior safety Jayden Williams. “We understand that after a big game, we can’t come out like that.”

Arizona State, meanwhile, is two seasons removed from winning the Big 12 title and reaching the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. The Sun Devils followed that with an 8-5 season in 2025 and now find themselves behind conference contenders Utah, Texas Tech, BYU, Houston and Arizona.

ASU hasn’t won back-to-back games this season, suffering blowout losses to Texas A&M (48-20), Baylor (55-19) and Texas Tech (53-25).

“Arizona State’s a really good team,” said Frost. “It’s going to be another battle.”

“We can’t have any letdown,” tight end Caden Piening said of this week’s preparation. “We have to get into the film room. We played a good game, but it wasn’t perfect. There’s stuff to correct. Correct those things and make adjustments during the week and have a good week of practice.”

Added Cushman: “We’ve just got to come out with energy, which is what we’ve been doing all season, and like I keep saying, put our best foot forward and go kick some butt.”

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram at @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.

Up next

What: UCF (5-4, 3-3 Big 12) vs. Arizona State (5-4, 3-3 Big 12)

When: 3:30 p.m., Saturday

Where: Acrisure Bounce House Stadium, Orlando

TV: ESPN2

Favorite: UCF by 3 points

Source: Yahoo Sports