Scott Frost urges UCF to ‘turn the page’ after Baylor loss ahead of Space Game vs. Houston
After a humbling 30-3 defeat at Baylor — UCF’s first game without a touchdown since 2015 — head coach Scott Frost appeared at his weekly press conference Monday to address what went wrong and how the Knights can respond on a short week leading into Friday night’s Space Game against Houston.
Frost spoke candidly about the team’s struggles away from home and the need to quickly “turn the page” as UCF looks to recapture its home-field rhythm inside the Bounce House.
Here’s everything he had to say:
On QB Tayven Jackson having remarkably different performances in home games vs. road games
“So far this year, I don’t think it’s unique to one person. We haven’t played as well on the road as we’ve played at home. Saturday was a bit of an enigma to me because I thought we were the most ready we were to play a game that we were all year, and that didn’t show up on the field.
“So we’ve been talking a lot about why that might be. But my message to the team is sometimes in life things don’t go the way you want them to, and you can sit and dwell on it and be mopey, or you can turn the page. And I think in some ways it’s good we have a short week this week because we’ve got to turn the page fast and just try to get back to where we were and play well Friday.”
On the challenges of having a shorter week to prepare for Houston on Friday
“Yeah, I mean, we’re not alone in that half the teams in the country weren’t happy with how last Saturday went. You know, the team we’re playing wasn’t happy with how last Saturday went. So the next week it’s about how fast you bounce back and just refocus on the next objective.”
On Baylor coach Dave Aranda and his conversation with him before the game
“Yeah, I’d say two things about that. One, I think they did a really good job. I give them a ton of credit because obviously they expected that. And I think they made some changes going into our game that led to some of the things we game planned for not being as good. So I give him a ton of credit for that.
“The second thing, you know, with a bye week, I think the one mistake I probably made is we probably put a little too much of that in. And I don’t think our team’s quite ready to handle that amount of scheme. And we can run it. It’s just if the look’s a little different, if things change over the course of the game, then we can’t adjust to it on the fly.
“So we have to be a little more mindful about what we have in and make sure our guys are capable of doing it.”
On whether they prepare differently going into this game
“No, one thing I’ve learned, man, over time in coaching, if you’re doing things right, you don’t panic. Everybody has a little different way to approach games and try to get their guys ready. We started pretty fast for the most part this year.
“It wasn’t a preparation error. We’re going to continue to work as hard as we can to get the guys ready and never panic. I know the trajectory that we’re on, where this is going. I’m impatient to get it there. But changing midstream isn’t the answer.”
On Jaden Nixon getting limited touches despite more explosive play ability
“Yeah, I’m kind of, to be honest, busy being the head coach and calling plays. I let my assistants handle the rotations. We talk about the rotations before the game, but then it’s going to be impossible for me to sub in and out of every position.
“The game didn’t go how we wanted it to. We wanted to hit them with some of the things that we had designed for them and try to be in a good spot or be ahead in the game and then lean on the run game, and we never got to that. That probably led to not getting near as many carries as we would have liked to for Myles and Jaden.
“But I know those guys are ready. I’ve got a lot of trust in them. They’re two of our better players and most trustworthy players, and we’re going to use them as much as we can.”
On the evolution of UCF’s Space Game
“Yeah, I’ve got to be honest. I didn’t know I coached in a Space Game. I knew our uniforms were different, but I don’t think it was a big deal back then. So it’s kind of cool that we were part of the first one.
“I kind of like the life that it’s taken on. I got some new gear today, so that was cool. Hopefully the players get some new stuff. I think it’s always neat to have a throwback or an alternate, and this one actually has some meaning behind it because of where the universities come from and the rise that the university has and its roots. So I think it’s a neat deal for our institution.”
On whether Frost, as a child, wanted to be an astronaut and his thoughts on the space industry
“That’s a big question. No, I was never the little kid that wanted to be an astronaut. I was too into hunting and fishing and sports, so I had pictures of Walter Payton and Michael Jordan and Mike Singletary on my wall and pictures of big horn sheep and big bull elk on my wall because my dad liked that.
“I know a lot of kids want to be an astronaut. I just think our proximity to NASA and a lot of things that have happened and our tie from the university to that is really cool. And it’s good that the football team can be a part of that and support that.
“And I think it gives us kind of a secondary identity, alter ego, that I think some fans are probably in favor of and some aren’t, but it’s a good thing for our school.”
On Houston losing to West Virginia, a team that UCF soundly defeated two weeks ago
“Well, I give West Virginia credit watching the tape. First of all, watching their game, Houston turned it over four times, which they hadn’t been doing all year, and that was a huge part of it. West Virginia played a lot more physical than they had, I think, leading up to our game. And they look like a different team on tape playing Houston, so I give them credit.
“Houston’s a physical team, and we have to be able to match that. Really, when you watch Houston’s tape, what stands out is how hard they play. We need to make sure that they don’t outplay us, and we’ll have a good game.”
On team leadership and bouncing back after the Baylor loss
“I felt like we were fighting against it. There was a little bit of a hangover today, but we need to move on from that fast. We actually had a walkthrough last night and a shorter practice today. We’ve got to get our work done tomorrow. There’s no time to sit and sulk and lick your wounds. We’ve got to play in four days here, so it’s time to move on.
“Like I said, my message to the guys, it’s not just football, it’s life. You’re cruising along and everything’s going well, and sometimes bad things happen you don’t expect. You have a bad experience you don’t expect. You’ve just got to shake it off and step up, and that’s what our team has to do.”
On when he hopes this team, during this rebuild, can handle the implementation of additional scheme, considering they struggled with it vs. Baylor
“I think that’s just an experience thing more than anything. If we have a core of guys back last year that already know the scheme, then I think you can be a little more creative. And we have been at times. We just have to watch the volume of that, I think, right now.”
On the difficulty in converting on third and fourth downs
“Well, the third and shorts have been an issue that’s crept up a few times, and that’s just pad level and force of will, to be honest with you. The rest of the third downs, we just have to do everything a little better. We have to protect a little better and keep them clean.
“We have to win on sticky coverage routes a little better. We’ve got to make a little quicker decision and quicker throw. And, you know, third downs are a lot of man coverage and mono a mono situations, and we need to win more of them.”
On the struggles in road games
“Well, I’m not worried about the road right now. I’ll worry about that again next week. But I think that just goes along with growth of a team. And we have played well at home for the most part, so that’s where my focus is right now is trying to do that again.”
On what he saw from UCF’s defense vs. Baylor, which started fast
“You know, I thought the defense played pretty well overall. The stats maybe didn’t bear that out. You know, they converted a third and 11 and a third and 8 on the first drive, another third and 7 or 8 on the second drive, and then we had a pick in our hands on the second drive.
“Any one of those plays probably changes the start of the game. Once we got down 14-0 on the road, that’s a little bit of a tough hill to climb but that’s not how you want to start on the road. We had our chances to get off the field on those first two drives, and we didn’t.
“We talk about turnover ratio all the time, and we’ve been negative turnover ratio in every road game. That’s got to change if you’re going to go on the road and win. You know, after that, I thought they played pretty well holding them to field goals.
“Didn’t really give up that last touchdown until we threw a pick that got them way down there. So our defense fought and battled. You’re not going to win many games if you don’t score a touchdown.”
On what UCF’s defense needs to do to create more turnovers
“I think as a player, because I’ve been there, you spend a lot of your time when you’re not 100 percent confident and sure of yourself just making sure you don’t get beat. Just make sure you are where you’re supposed to be. Make sure you get the tackle. Make sure you don’t get beat in coverage.
“Once you have a confidence and you kind of turn the page, then you’re doing your job and you’re looking for an opportunity to strip a ball, to make a pick. We got some guys there, but we need more guys that are kind of turning that page and getting over that hump and looking for the special play.”
On Houston QB Conner Weigman
“I haven’t watched last week’s game yet. I’ve been focusing on the other side of the ball, to be honest. I have seen him play on tape. I’ve been really impressed mostly with his toughness and leadership and it seemed like everything went through him. So I haven’t watched the West Virginia game yet, but I know we got a tough competitive quarterback coming in here.”
On UCF’s aiming to catch up to the other Big 12 newcomers, BYU, Cincinnati and Houston
“Like I’ve said all year, it’s a matter of just continuing to improve. I think our guys have done that. You’re going to have sometimes two steps forward and one step back, and I think we had that Saturday, but there’s no doubt we’ve gotten better. We can’t let that stop until the end of this year.
“Regardless of results right now, we have to keep improving. This league has enough parity in it that if anybody just gets marginally better, you’re going to have a chance to make that jump and be in the middle or top of the standings in this league.
“We’re not that far away, but we’re miles away at the same time, and that’s the gap that we’ve got to make up just by continuing to grind and improve.”
On making sure Houston doesn’t get off to a hot start like Baylor did
“I mean, we just got to play well early. Like I said, the defense I thought made some good plays. Credit Baylor again. They made some outstanding catches, some one-on-one wins, broke some tackles, and scored the first time. We went three and out on offense, and they scored again, and we had a chance to get off the field on that one. It all kind of goes back to when you have your chance to make a play or you have a team in a third and long or you have an interception in your hands or a block in front of you, you got to go get it done, and we didn’t do enough of that, especially early Saturday.”
On how the team has responded to losses
“Well, if I had a team that wasn’t disappointed when they lost, and I got the wrong guys, I want guys to be pissed when we lose. But I want guys to understand that when that happens, there’s only one alternative, only one choice, and that’s just to go back to work and work harder and get a little bit better. And a little bit better would have given us a lot different record this year.
“So, again, it isn’t mountains of things we need to change. We just got to do a little better across the board.”
On the issues with delay of game penalties, and whether has to do with difficulties with relaying the play call
“Yeah, it’s on the road. We’ve talked about that too. The communication doesn’t seem to be as big an issue at home. It’s been happening on road games, and we talked about that a lot.”
On whether that pertains to helmet comms, and Baylor blasting loud sound from their speakers right until the play starts
“Yeah, we had music coming from one side and trumpets blaring from the other side. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it or not, but even if it did, we have to be prepared for that, and we need to be better coaching staff and players.”
On the overall health of the team
“We’re still dealing with a lot of stuff. It’s tough to look over on the side during practice and see a lot of the guys that would be helping us that aren’t up and doing it right now. That’s football.
“Some years you have real clean years, and other years you don’t. I’m really happy that we have the guys still healthy that we do, and quarterback’s been one of those positions. Tayven’s good to go. Davi’s good to go. The other two have kind of been day by day. I don’t think Cam (Fancher) will be ready this week.”
