Alonza Barnett III out again as UCF hosts BYU

Pete Thamel had the news Tuesday morning, and it's the update UCF fans have been dreading for a month.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

Sources: UCF quarterback Alonza Barnett III will not start again for UCF against No. 2 BYU in Orlando on Saturday. He’s still recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered at Pitt on Sept. 12. UCF is expected to start Keyone Jenkins for fifth-straight game.

Barnett hurt his hamstring at Pitt on Sept. 12. It was an ugly 12-7 loss, and it was only his 2nd game in a UCF uniform. He hasn't started since. He sat out the Georgia State game a week later, and Jenkins has taken every start since then: Georgia State, TCU, Houston, Oklahoma State and now BYU.

This hurts because Barnett was the guy. Scott Frost brought him in from James Madison in January, coming off a 2025 season where he won Sun Belt Player of the Year and the Dudley Award and took the Dukes to an 11-1 regular season and their first College Football Playoff trip. That was the face-of-the-program quarterback. UCF has gotten 1 full game out of him.

Jenkins has been more than a body in the meantime. The FIU transfer came to Orlando expecting to back Barnett up and ended up running the offense. He went 19-for-20 against TCU, a school record, in a 21-13 win. The bad news is the Knights have dropped their last 2, at Houston and at Oklahoma State, and now sit at 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12.

BYU is about the worst opponent you could draw at 3-3. The Cougars come to Orlando ranked No. 2 in the country, and a home upset would flip UCF's whole season. Another loss leaves the Knights under.500 with the back half of the Big 12 schedule still to play.

Thamel's wording matters too. It's "will not start," not "out for the season," and a hamstring that's lingered for more than 5 weeks is the kind of injury where nobody's giving a firm timeline. Keep an eye on Frost's weekly availability updates. Until Barnett is actually taking first-team reps again, this is Jenkins' offense, and Saturday against BYU is his biggest test so far.