The UCF Knights 2025 Transfer Portal Report Card: Special Teams
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UCF Knights coach Scott Frost marked the first season of his return to Orlando by bringing in nearly 70 new players, many of them from the transfer portal.
Though, how exactly did all those players fare in their first, and in some cases only, season as a Knight? Well, that is what this series is for. This transfer portal report card examines the 2025 UCF team, position group by position group, through the lens of its transfer portal additions.
We begin with the special teams, which had a complete revamp this season:
1. Noe Ruelas, Kicker
Year | Field Goals | Field Goal % | PATs | Kickoffs | Avg. Kickoff Distance | Touchbacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | 16/20 | 80% | 35/37 | 9 | 60.2 yards per kick | 3 |
2025 | 15/17 | 88.2% | 32/33 | 58 | 64.3 yards per kick | 41 |
Arriving in Orlando from James Madison, Noe Ruelas showcased a slight improvement with his field goal kicking this season. His 88.2% success rate on field goals tied him with 2019 Dylan Barnas for the third-highest single-season field goal percentage in program history.
Ruelas also converted on 11 consecutive field goal attempts, tying Matt Prater for the fourth-longest streak in program history. He also converted three of his four attempts from 50 yards or further. It's the most 50-yard field goals made by a UCF kicker in its FBS history, and tied for the second-most overall.
He is also now just the second Knight in program history to convert more than two field goals of 50 yards or more in a single season, and the first of the FBS era.
Ruelas' biggest evolution to his game this season, however, was with kickoffs. Ruelas did not have to do many with the Dukes, but this season, he did all but one of them. He rose to the moment, improving his average by 4.2 yards and went from getting a touchback on a third of them to 70.7% of them.
Ruelas was named a Lou Groza Award semifinalist and selected to the All-Big 12 Third Team for his efforts, as well as receiving an honorable mention for the Big 12's Special Teams Player of the Year.
2. Anthony Venneri, Punter
After not seeing the field last season with national champion Ohio State, Venneri moved on to Orlando for his third stop of his collegiate career.
His average punt distance went down by about a couple of yards, though that is offset by more of his punts landing in the 20-yard line. Still, after not punting in a game at all last season, Venneri managed to get back to close to where he left off this season.
Year | Punts | Avg. Punt Distance | Punts ended inside 20-yard line | Punts ended inside 20-yard line % | Touchbacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 52 | 43.9 yards per punt | 17 | 31.4% | 2 |
2025 | 48 | 40.7 yards per punt | 21 | 43.8% | 4 |
3. Dalton Riggs, Long Snapper
Arriving from BYU, Riggs played in all 12 games this season as a long snapper. Ruelas shouted him out in a press conference on Nov. 22 for putting him in the position he's in.
Riggs, a junior, has one more season of eligibility.
4. Kick Returners
A pair of transfers returned kicks for the Knights this season. Predominantly, the Knights relied on running back Jaden Nixon, who arrived from Western Michigan. He ended up finishing fifth in the conference with an average of 23.1 return yards per return and even ran back the second kickoff return for a touchdown of his career, his first since 2022. For his efforts, Nixon was named an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention as a kick returner.
Right behind Nixon sits wide receiver Duane Thomas Jr., a Charlotte transfer, who also returned a few kicks this season, getting six chances for 103 total yards, averaging 17.2 yards per return.
GRADE: A
After some special teams issues last season, new special teams coordinator Pete Alamar has brought the unit back this season, which included its first kicker getting an honor higher than all-conference honorable mention for the first time since Matthew Wright in 2018.
However, Venneri did still finish last in the Big 12 in average yards per punt. So, it's not a perfect A+. However, thanks to a historic season from Ruelas, a clean season from Riggs, and a conference honor for Nixon, UCF's special teams unit transformed from one of its glaring weaknesses to one of its bright spots.
Stay tuned for more 2025 UCF Transfer Portal Report Cards.
Catch up on more UCF news below:
Another UCF Quarterback Reportedly Entering Transfer Portal
UCF Wide Receiver Announces Intent To Return For 2026
Scott Frost Responds To UCF Signee's Involvement In On-field Brawl
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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