UCF Knights Uplift Freshman Quarterback After Game-Deciding Interception

UCF freshman quarterback Davi Belfort was excited to get on the field, coach Scott Frost said after Friday night's Space Game against Houston.

"He came up to me and said, 'Coach, let's go win this thing,'" Frost said.

Despite the delay of game and holding penalties setting the Knights' offense back as it attempted to preserve their team's chances to maintain an undefeated record in the Space Game, Belfort scrambled for a 19-yard and 17-yard gains, both for first downs, setting himself up in Cougar territory.

Frost calls a timeout.

"I wanted to use the timeout after third down," Frost said after the game. "I don't know. It's not really in me just to run the ball up the middle and go to overtime. We had a play that we liked. It's one of our base plays that he knew. We trust him."

In what ended up being his only throw of the night, Belfort heaved the ball towards the endzone looking for wide receiver Duane Thomas Jr., only for it to end up in the arms of Houston safety Kentrell Webb.

UCF loses as Davi Belfort gets picked off

Davi is the son of UCF icon Vitor Belfort

pic.twitter.com/dx249wpF0t
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) November 8, 2025

"I feel terrible for him, because he was a spark that got us down there in position to try to win the game and, honestly, he just threw that one late and behind him," Frost said.

As offensive lineman Paul Rubelt tells it, many Knights players were around Belfort and talking to him after the interception, and the native German said he had his chance after they had gone into the locker room. Prior to that night, Rubelt said the two had an "ongoing thing" with Belfort where the freshman walked up to him and said he was proud of him, to which the German responded that he was proud of Belfort.

"The other day I went up to him, I said, 'Dude, even though this sucks, I'm proud of you,'" Rubelt said on Monday. "I love the kid. He's a cool dude on and off the field, so I don't want him to dwell on that too much because it's a process."

Frost acknowledged the "tough spot" he put Belfort into, especially considering he did not get a lot of reps in fall camp. However, he stood by his decision to put him in the game.

"We weren't going to call some of the things in the game plan with him in there," Frost said. "We just going to call things that we knew he knew, and I think he, for the most part, he did a good job.”

It's a sentiment echoed by Knights' offensive coordinator Steve Cooper, who said that Belfort's pass could have gone for a touchdown. However, the freshman was "staying true to his read," so it was ultimately not his fault.

“Ultimately, what we saw from Davi is he's a fighter," Cooper said on Tuesday. "He's willing to go out there and put his body on the line in a critical moment. That was good to see, and he put himself in a situation that, you know, you'd like to have some experience going into that last situation on the third down where we had a guy open.

"Nobody's beating himself up more than Davi, but the cool thing about that kid is his ability to bounce back, and that's been good to see the last couple days as we prepare to play against a really good opponent and, you know, it's going to take all these quarterbacks throughout the week of practice to get ourselves ready to go."

The Knights travel to take on Texas Tech on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Catch more UCF News below:

Three Key Takeaways From UCF's First Space Game Loss

Three Key Takeaways From UCF's Blowout Of Florida A&M

Three UCF Basketball Players To Watch In 2025-26