The UCF Knights' offense has proven it can compete against the nation's best teams, and coach Scott Frost is diving deeper into his playbook each week.

UCF scored 21 first-half points in Saturday's loss to the No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowboys. It marks the second-highest score this season, trailing the 38 first-half points in a blowout Week 1 win over the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.

Frost and offensive coordinator Steve Cooper have reached a point where they can comfortably challenge quarterback Keyone Jenkins. They tailored their play calling to his short and intermediate strengths before integrating the deep passing game.

Here are three takeaways from UCF's offensive performance against Oklahoma State.

The senior quarterback had his best performance of the season, throwing for four touchdowns. He tied a personal best from his FIU days, where he threw four touchdowns against the New Mexico State Aggies on Oct. 29, 2024.

Jenkins had three touchdowns in the first half, each to a different receiver. He completed a 1-yard pass to tight end Grayson Brousseau for the Knights' first score, a 12-yard completion to wide receiver Josh Derry before the first quarter ended and a 3-yard score to wide receiver Tyren Hornes.

UCF's offense has gotten sharper each week with Jenkins starting. His short and intermediate passes are his bread and butter, but he must improve his deep passing accuracy to add another method of attack.

The true freshman has seven catches for 59 yards and one touchdown in the past two games. His role in Frost and Cooper's offense is growing rapidly, similar to Waden Charles last season.

Hornes caught his first career touchdown before entering halftime. He could've scored earlier had Jenkins not overthrown a deep pass to the end zone.

Frost even called a jet sweep for the freshman, easing him into a Swiss Army knife role. Duane Thomas Jr. played that role for the Knights last season, but a hamstring injury has kept him sidelined this year.

UCF has scored 14 second-half points in the past two games. A trend is forming: the team starts with an explosive first half that tapers off in the second.

The Knights possessed the ball for 10 minutes in the third quarter and entered the fourth scoreless. Jenkins fumbled on a scramble, leading to a Cowboys scoop-and-score and running back Landen Chambers couldn't convert a fourth-and-1 on the next drive.

Frost must fix these issues and give his team a shot at upsetting ranked opponents. He has two weeks to prepare for the No. 8 BYU Cougars, as UCF is on a bye week.