After an abysmal winless stretch away from home, the Knights are overhauling their run defense and leveraging transfer portal talent to silence doubters and dominate the Big 12.
The UCF Knights were an abysmal road team last season, not winning a single game, and linebacker Lewis Carter is looking forward to improving his team's record away from the Acrisure Bounce House.
UCF lost four of its five road matchups by double digits; the lone single-digit loss came against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Oct. 11. The Knights recorded an average loss point differential of 21.8 points.
Failing to stop the running game was their Achilles' heel. UCF was out-rushed in every road game barring the Cincinnati matchup, in which quarterback Cam Fancher rushed for a season-high 108 yards.
A successful rushing attack keeps defenses honest and increases the effectiveness of a play-action call. Limiting the rush helps the defense pressure the quarterback more often, leading to sacks or forced turnovers.
"You got to stop the run to be able to earn the right to rush the passer, man," Carter told Sons of UCF at Big 12 Media Day.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders are a perfect example of Carter's sentiment. They were the best run defense in the Big 12, allowing 68.1 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Red Raiders also led the conference in sacks with 41. Texas Tech sacked Tayven Jackson four times when the Knights visited Lubbock in their 48-9 blowout loss.
A dominant run defense was the backbone of the program's conference championship run and propelled the team to the College Football Playoffs. If UCF wants to have a winning season and make it to a bowl game, its run defense must be the calling card to lean on.
That started in the offseason, with the addition of experienced starting linebackers from January's transfer portal to play alongside Carter. The Knights added Old Dominion transfer Jahleel Culbreath and Wisconsin transfer Tackett Curtis -- who played under defensive coordinator Alex Grinch at his previous schools.
Carter recorded two sacks, Culbreath tallied three, and Curtis had one last season. The trio strengthens UCF's pass-rushing attack when Grinch wants one of his linebackers to blitz.
UCF, as always, is entering the 2026 season underrated by most evaluators. The program has consistently ranked near the bottom of Big 12 preseason rankings, and many record predictions don't have them winning six games.
Carter and the Knights want to prove the college football world wrong. That journey begins when they pick up their first road win in 2026.
"They don't look at us as the guys on top, but we just know we working," Carter said. "We going to stack days and we ready to work, ready to prove the world."
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