UCF Coach Scott Frost Reflects Following Loss To No. 11 BYU

There will be no bowl game for UCF in Scott Frost’s first year back with the program.

The Knights have ended the season at 5-7 after losing to BYU Saturday in Provo, despite having led 14-0 in the first quarter but promptly disappearing in what became a 41-21 Cougars win.

“I thought the fight today was good against a really good team,” Frost told reporters after the game. “My hat’s off to them. They’re a class act, like coach (Kalani) Sitake, he’s one of the good guys in the business.

“He’s been here for a while and built it the way he wants it to look. Early on we gave them a run for their money and I was proud of how the players responded this week.”

After falling behind by two touchdowns, BYU put up 31 unanswered points to leave UCF in the dust.

“They made plays when they needed to,” Frost said of BYU. “Their quarterback (Bear Bachmeier) made some great throws on third and fourth down. Their receivers got open on crossing routes. They made a punt return (touchdown). They got a stop or two when they needed it.

“We need to start doing those things … We need to start making those plays, and that’s just going to be a product of continuing to bring the right guys into the program, developing the guys in the program.”

Capping the regular season portion of his tremendous true freshman campaign, Bachmeier completed 21 of 25 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown against UCF, while LJ Martin ran for three touchdowns and Parker Kingston posted 181 all-purpose yards and two scores.

“Bear has a chance to be a special player,” Frost said. “There’s not very many guys that come in as 18 year olds and play with the maturity that he does, so I wish him all the best.”

Frost also had plenty of kind words to say about Sitake and BYU as a whole, sharing that he had visited Provo in the early 1990s as LaVell Edwards tried recruiting him out of high school.

“He’s just a guy that’s real,” Frost said of Sitake. “You know, I like genuine people, and he’s a genuine guy. I think he stands for the right things and I’m happy for him getting to the (Big 12) championship game.

“… (LaVell Edwards Stadium is) the prettiest backdrop in football, obviously. I love the mountains. People here are really nice to us and I appreciate that.”

Though the Knights’ season has come to an anticlimactic end, Frost is still grateful for how his team handled things in 2025 and hopes it will be an opportunity to build moving forward.

During his first stint in Orlando, Frost led UCF to a 13-0 finish in 2017 with a Peach Bowl victory. Perhaps he can lift the program back to similar heights in the future.

“I’m really proud of this group. It’s been a interesting year with a lot of new players and some some things that have happened in the program that were unfortunate, some other things that happened that were inevitable,” Frost said.

“To the seniors, we love them and we’ll do anything for them. I hope they’re the springboard and building blocks of a program that’s going to only get better and hopefully do some good things down the road.”