UCF isn't a finished product either. Frost's group went 5-7 and 2-7 in Big 12 play in year one, an incremental step up from 4-8 the season before, but still nowhere near bowl eligible. Frost brought in 30 new players to patch holes, especially up front and at receiver, while trusting a secondary that returns four experienced starters. That defense should be miles ahead of anything Georgia State's offense has shown recently.
The offensive line questions and edge-rusher losses are real for UCF, with Malachi Lawrence gone to the draft pool. But those are problems that show up against Big 12 competition, not against a Sun Belt team that lost nine straight to end last season. Taveion Swint, a four-star back finally healthy after missing all of 2025, gives Frost another weapon to lean on if Barnett needs time to settle in.
Georgia State's 22-man recruiting class was ranked top-15 in the Sun Belt and leaned heavily into speed on defense, which at least signals a program trying to address what went wrong. That doesn't fix a two-deep gutted by a 1-11 season overnight. This is a program looking for signs of life in Year 2 under Dell McGee, not a team built to steal one on the road against a Power conference roster.
For UCF, this is exactly the kind of non-conference tune-up Frost needs before Big 12 play chews the Knights up again. A clean, competitive showing here matters more for building depth and rhythm than for the final score. For Georgia State, just avoiding a repeat of last year's double-digit beatdowns would count as progress.