The 2021 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida (UCF) during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Knights were led by first-year head coach Gus Malzahn and played their home games at Bounce House in Orlando, Florida. They competed as members of the American Athletic Conference.

The Knights started out the season 2–0 with a come-from-behind win against Boise State and a rout of Bethune–Cookman. However, the season was nearly derailed after the team suffered a rash of injuries during a last-minute loss at Louisville. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered a season-ending broken clavicle, and by season's end, elected to enter the NCAA's transfer portal, eventually opting to play at Oklahoma. Injuries to running back Isaiah Bowser, defensive tackle Kalia Davis, wide receiver Jaylon Robinson, linebacker Tatum Bethune, center Corey Thornton, and several others, shuffled the starting lineups. Freshman Mikey Keene took over as starting quarterback, winning six of his nine starts, leading the Knights to an 8–4 record regular season (third place in the AAC) and 7–0 at home. The Knights concluded their season by defeating the Florida Gators in the Gasparilla Bowl.

The 2021 Knights will be profiled on the ESPN+ documentary Our Time: UCF Football.

Preseason

Spring game The 2021 UCF Spring exhibition game was held Saturday April 10 at the Bounce House. The team was split into two squads for gameplay, the Black squad (Knights) and the White squad (UCF). It marked the first appearance for new head coach Gus Malzahn. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel played exclusively for the Black squad, but other players switched jerseys during the game. Gabriel threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns, playing only in the first half. Running back Johnny Richardson had 7 carries for 67 yards, and wide receiver Ryan O'Keefe caught 6 passes for 83 yards (1 touchdown). Backup quarterbacks Quadry Jones and Mikey Keene also played.

Date Time Spring Game Site Result April 10 12:00pm Black vs. White Bounce House • Orlando, FL 34–17

American Athletic Conference preseason media poll

The American Athletic Conference preseason media poll was released at the virtual media day held August 4, 2021. Cincinnati, who finished the 2020 season ranked No. 8 nationally, was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the 2021 preseason media poll.

Media poll 1 Cincinnati 262 (22) 2 UCF 241 (2) 3 SMU 188 4 Houston 181 5 Memphis 168 6 Tulsa 153 7 Tulane 132 т-8 East Carolina 85 т-8 Navy 85 10 Temple 46 11 South Florida 43

Training camp Returning junior quarterback Dillon Gabriel entered training camp as the anticipated starter. It is expected to be Gabriel's third season under center. Former quarterback McKenzie Milton, who suffered a serious leg injury in 2018, entered the transfer portal at the end of 2020, and departed for Florida State. Likewise, back-up quarterback Darriel Mack Jr. left for Old Dominion. Three former Auburn players followed Gus Malzahn to UCF, including senior DE Markaviest "Big Kat" Bryant. Among the other key acquisitions included Northwestern transfer RB Isaiah Bowser.

Schedule

Game summaries

Boise State

UCF hosted Boise State in the 2021 season opener. It was the first meeting between the two Group of Five front-runners, and the first game for new head coach Gus Malzahn. The kickoff was delayed about 2 hours and 46 minutes due to lightning in the area, but the inclement weather passed and the game played to completion without additional delay. Boise State jumped out to a 21–0 lead, but UCF rallied and held on for a 36–31 victory. UCF won their sixth consecutive season opener, and 14th season opener out of the last 16 years.

On their first drive of the first quarter, quarterback Dillon Gabriel swiftly drove the Knights to the Boise State 8 yard line. However, his pass was intercepted by Tyric LeBeauf at the goal line, who ran it back 100 yards for a Broncos touchdown. Trailing 21–0, the Knights finally got on the board with a 23-yard catch and run touchdown by Alec Holler early in the second quarter. In the final minute of the second quarter, Gabriel drove the Knights down the field and with 6 seconds left in the half, scrambled to find Titus Mokiao-Atimalala just inside the pylon for a touchdown and a 24–14 score at halftime.

UCF received the opening kickoff for the second half, and the Knights scored again. This time a touchdown pass from Gabriel to Brandon Johnson, who caught the ball on the right side of the endzone, his foot just inches from being out-of-bounds. With 56 seconds left in the third quarter, the Knights took the lead for the first time. Gabriel connected with Jaylon Robinson for a 23-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown pass, and a 28–24 lead.

The Knights defense stiffened in the second half, forcing the Broncos into three three-and-outs along with a safety. With UCF leading 30–24, momentum shifted back to the Broncos after Tyric LeBeauf intercepted Gabriel for the second time. The turnover led to a Boise State touchdown, and the Knights trailed by 1 point with 8 minutes left in regulation.

Gabriel drove the Knights 75 yards in ten plays (including a Targeting penalty by the Broncos), capped off with a 9-yard go-ahead touchdown run by Isaiah Bowser. With four minutes to go, the Broncos had one last chance. They drove to the UCF 35, but quarterback Hank Bachmeier was scrambling and threw up an easy interception for Dyllon Lester. The Knights were able to roll the clock down, and held on for a 36–31 victory. It matched the best comeback win in school history (21 points in 1984 & 2013). Gabriel finished the game with 318 passing yards, 64 yards rushing, and four touchdown passes, and Bowser has 32 carries for 170 yards (1 touchdown) in his Knights debut. The Knights extended their streak of scoring both a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown to 50 consecutive games, the longest such active streak in the nation. The game ended at approximately 1:26 a.m. - 6 hours and 26 minutes after the originally-scheduled kickoff time of 7:00 p.m..

Bethune-Cookman

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw for 312 yards, two touchdown passes, and ran for one touchdown, as UCF routed Bethune–Cookman 63–14. Running back Isaiah Bowser had another strong showing with 59 yards rushing and four touchdown runs. The Knights improved to 2–0 on the season, just one day after formally accepting an invitation to join the Big XII Conference.

Kickoff was delayed about 50 minutes due to lighting in the area. Light, misty rain fell during the first half, but it did not significantly affect gameplay. It was the second straight week the Knights had a game delayed due to weather. The Knights extended their streak of scoring both a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown to 51 consecutive games, the longest such active streak in the nation. At halftime, The Marching Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman joined UCF's Marching Knights for combined band salute to the twentieth anniversary of 9/11.

At Louisville

The UCF Knights fell at Louisville on Friday night, by the score of 42–35 for their first loss of the season. A rash of injuries were suffered during the night, sidelining several starters, including a fractured clavicle by quarterback Dillon Gabriel on the final play of the game.

Gabriel threw for 184 yards and three touchdown passes. He also ran for a touchdown, and caught a touchdown pass on a trick play from Ryan O'Keefe. Running back Isaiah Bowser managed only 37 yard rushing before being benched with a reported knee injury. A back and forth game saw the score tied 28–28 early in the fourth quarter.

Louisville was pinned back their own 9 yard line, but drove 91 yards in only four plays for a go-ahead touchdown with 9 minutes left in regulation. After forcing a punt, UCF got the ball back with just over three minutes to go. Gabriel swiftly drove the Knights 87 yards, capping off the drive with a 6-yard scramble and a 35–35 tie.

With 1:21 left in the game, Louisville drove to near midfield, looking to get into field goal range. On 3rd & 4, with 25 seconds left, Cardinals quarterback Malik Cunningham was pressured and his pass was tipped and intercepted by Tre'mon Morris-Brash. The Knights took over at the Louisville 41. On the first play of the ensuing drive, however, Gabriel's pass intended for Amari Johnson was deflected off of the receiver and fell into the hands of defender Jaylin Alderman. He ran the ball back 66 yards for the game-winning touchdown for Louisville. The Knights had one final possession, and attempted a hook and ladder play which went nowhere. Gabriel was tackled on the play, and suffered a broken clavicle. The Knights fell to 2–1 on the season heading into their bye week. The Knights extended their streak of scoring both a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown to 52 consecutive games, the longest such active streak in the nation.

At Navy

With six key starters – including quarterback Dillon Gabriel – missing the game with injuries, the Knights fell at Navy by the score of 34–30. Freshman Mikey Keene started at quarterback, and threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns. Johnny Richardson was the lead rusher (with Isaiah Bowser also out), with 64 yards. But the Knight's defense could not contain Navy's Triple option. The Midshipmen racked up 360 yards rushing, three touchdown runs, and nearly 40 minutes time of possession.

UCF led by as many as 13 points, but a blocked extra point, a blocked punt returned for a touchdown by Navy, and a fourth quarter fumble (which led to another Navy touchdown), were costly for the Knights. Navy scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, and held on for their first victory of the season

The Knights fell to 2–2 on the season (0–1 in conference). The Knights extended their streak of scoring both a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown to 53 consecutive games, the longest such active streak in the nation.

East Carolina

Running back Mark-Antony Richards punched the ball in from the 1 yard line with 23 seconds left in the game as UCF defeated East Carolina 20–16. Freshman Mikey Keene threw for 194 yards and an interception, to claim his first victory as starting quarterback. In a low-scoring game – the Knights' lowest points total since the 2016 Cure Bowl (13 points), and lowest winning score since 2014 (16–0 over USF), the Knights remained unbeaten at home on the season, and snapped a two-game losing streak.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Pirates drove to the UCF 10 yard line, but a red zone stand by the Knights defense held the Pirates to a field goal. ECU took a 16–10 lead, which UCF trimmed to 16–13 after a Daniel Obarski field goal with 5:06 remaining. The Knights defense forced a three-and-out, and Keene got one last chance with 3:39 to go. In eleven plays, the Knights drove 64 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Facing a 4th & 8 at the ECU 43, Keene connected to Mark-Antony Richards and a first down to keep the drive alive. Richards followed that up with a runs of 19 yards, and 7 yards, followed by the game-winner, a 1-yard score.

The Knights improved to 3–2 on the season (1–1 in conference). The Knights, however, ended their streak of scoring both a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown at 53 consecutive games. The streak had dated back to the beginning of the 2017 season.

At No. 3 Cincinnati

The Knights were routed by #3 Cincinnati by the score of 56–21. The Bearcats jumped out to a dominating 35–0 lead before the Knights got on the board just before halftime. Quarterback Mikey Keene was held to only 141 yards passing and one touchdown pass. Running back Isaiah Bowser returned to the field after being sidelined for multiple weeks due to injury. Bowser finished with 27 yards and one touchdown.

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