How To Watch UCF's Road Opener Against Pittsburgh
In this story:
Venue: Acrisure Stadium (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Kickoff: Saturday, Sep. 12, 3:30 p.m. ET
TV/Streaming: ESPN 2 (Play-by-Play: Lowell Galindo, Analyst: Kirk Morrison, Sideline: Dawn Davenport)
Radio (English): FM 96.9 FM / AM 740 (Play-by-Play: Marc Daniels, Analyst: Gary Parris, Sideline: Scott Adams)
Radio (Spanish): UCF Knights YouTube Channel (Play-by-Play: Carlos Bohorquez, Analyst: Sergio Ruiz Torres)
Live Twitter/X Updates: @itsBrysonTurner
Weather Forecast: 83 degrees and cloudy, with a 49% chance of rain 30 minutes before kickoff that goes up to 56% by 4 p.m. and wind blowing southeast at seven miles per hour, according to AccuWeather.
Odds: Pittsburgh is favored by 7.5 points, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Series History: UCF is 1-2 all-time against Pittsburgh (Last Meeting: 2019).
Key Storylines and Other Things To Know:
1. Know Thy Foe
The Panthers are coming off their own commanding season-opening victory against Miami (Ohio), 59-14.
Quarterback Mason Heintschel, who earned three votes for Preseason ACC Player of the Year, converted on 31 of his 41 passes for 453 yards and seven touchdowns, all of which went to different receivers. Last season, he finished 37th in the nation in passing yards per game.
Most of the Panthers' rushing attack, meanwhile, went through running back Ja'Kyrian Turner, who finished fifth in the ACC and 56th in the nation last season in rush yards per carry.
On defense, the Panthers ranked eighth in the nation in 2025 in rushing defense, fifth in team tackles for loss and 14th in passes intercepted.
2. Who Could Be Out?
During his press conference on Monday, coach Scott Frost named three players for whom it was "too early to tell" if they could play in the Knights' matchup against Pittsburgh: defensive tackle RJ Jackson Jr., EDGE Bruno Dall and wide receiver Duane Thomas Jr.
Later on the week, On3's Pete Nakos reported that Thomas would be a game-time decision for Saturday's game.
UCF wide receiver Duane Thomas will be a game-time decision on Saturday against Pitt, sources tell @On3.
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) September 11, 2026
He had 53 catches for 528 yards last season for the Knights. Missed the 2026 season opener.
Injury Report: https://t.co/2OSYGsvMIo https://t.co/4WTvvklTSn pic.twitter.com/b6PvJQxVdF
Should all three players once again be held out, the players standing to fill in for them would likely be the same players that did so for the season-opener against Bethune-Cookman.
Even with Thomas out and Waden Charles not getting targeted, the Knights still spread the ball around through the air against the Wildcats. The player listed on the Knights' unofficial depth chart, Ric'Darious "DayDay" Farmer, caught two of his three targets for 11 yards on Thursday.
Should Jackson be held out of another matchup, the Knights have a fairly deep defensive tackle room it can rely on. While Horace Lockett and Thomas Collins started against Bethune-Cookman, none of them ended up recording a tackle against Bethune-Cookman. However, Jeffson Lafontant, Brad Gurley and Trenton Turner all combined for seven tackles, five of them solo, and 1.5 tackles for loss last Thursday.
As for a potential Dall absence, UCF's EDGEs were still leading the way defensively against Bethune-Cookman even without him. Last Thursday, Isaiah Nixon, Sincere Edwards, Ken Talley, Josh Schell and Aymeric Koumba combined to record 21 tackles, eight of them solo, 1.5 sacks, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
3. Returning To Pittsburgh
For a certain pair of Knights players, Saturday afternoon marks a return to a place that has played a role in their college football pasts.
Back on Aug. 10, 2022, two years before taking a college football snap, Wekiva High School's Sincere Edwards committed to the Knights. However, several months later, the EDGE ended up flipping his commitment to Pittsburgh, where he would begin his college football career in 2024. During that lone season as a Panther, he played in all 13 games, recording 17 tackles, eight of them solo, and three sacks.
Following that first season, and the return of coach Scott Frost, Edwards entered the transfer portal and officially committed to UCF four days later.
Fast forward to Sep. 27, 2025, running back Duke Watson is in Acrisure Stadium taking on the Panthers with the Louisville Cardinals. He'd tallied six carries and 11 yards before going down with what looked like a right ankle injury, according to the Courier Journal. While Watson went on to finish the game with 14 carries and 47 yards, injuries still haunted the rest of his season, playing in only four more games the rest of the season, only getting more than 10 carries in one of them.
Now, both Edwards and Watson are back in Pittsburgh, and fellow defensive lineman Horace Lockett is not blind to what this game means for them.
"We want this game for [Edwards] as much as we want it for everybody else, but I know it means a lot to Sin, just as much as it mean to Duke Watson," Lockett said on Monday.
4. Exorcising Demons of the Past
Frost's first stint with the Knights saw the program turn around from a winless program in the season before his arrival to an undefeated season in 2017, but that winning streak, especially the regular-season one, continued long after he departed for Nebraska.
On Sep. 21, 2019, a No. 15-ranked UCF took its 27-game regular-season winning streak and 10-game road winning streak to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers. Led by freshman quarterback Dillon Gabriel, despite falling behind at the half, a punt return touchdown from Otis Anderson and a pair of touchdown receptions by Gabe Davis gave the Knights their first lead of the game, and they stayed out front going into the fourth quarter.
However, during those final 15 minutes, UCF could not create enough separation from Pittsburgh: first a three-and-out, then a turnover-on-downs and then getting held to a field goal to go up by six. On what ended up being the Panthers' final drive of the game, the Knights forced a fourth-down play that never ended up being finished thanks to an offsides penalty that gave them a first down. That drive ended with quarterback Kenny Pickett catching the game-winning touchdown on a trick play coach Pat Narduzzi called "the Pitt Special."
Coming into Saturday's game, UCF is in a much different position than it was going into the 2019 matchup: it has not been ranked in the AP Top 25 since 2022 and is on a nine-game losing streak on the road.
Acrisure Stadium may have been where the Knights' winning streaks ended back in 2019, but in 2026, they now get to return to that same place looking to end a losing streak.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Catch up on more UCF News below:
Three Things We Learned From UCF's Season-Opening Blowout of Bethune-Cookman
Here's How The UCF Knights' 2026 Opponents Did in Week 1 (and Zero)
Milton, Kruczek Headline 2026 UCF Athletics Hall of Fame Class
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Bryson Turner is a sports journalist who covers UCF Athletics. Turner has contributed to the Black and Gold Banneret, the home for UCF Athletics on SB Nation. He has called the Orlando area home since the age of 8 and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UCF.
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