On Saturday, the No. 20 Houston Cougars host the upset-hopeful UCF Knights.

For Scott Frost and the Knights, however, it will be hard with their starting quarterback injured. This changes how Houston defends the Knights.

Who Will Start Against Houston?

In 2025, with Frost's return, the Knights struggled offensively and finished 5-7. Heading into 2026, UCF looked to the portal for a new quarterback. The Knights landed star quarterback Alonza Barnett III, the starter for the James Madison Dukes, who went 12-2 and made the College Football Playoff in 2025.

Barnett unfortunately played only two games before suffering an injury. As a result, backup quarterback Keyone Jenkins, also a transfer, took the starting role.

Jenkins struggled in his first start, completing only seven of 17 passes for 86 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Against the TCU Horned Frogs in Week 4, Jenkins looked a lot better, completing 19 of 20 passes for 160 yards and one touchdown.

Jenkins challenges the Houston secondary. But thankfully, he doesn't present much of a dual threat. In his entire career (he was also the starter with the FIU Panthers), Jenkins has 259 carries for just 344 rushing yards.

This injury raises many questions about how UCF will approach this game offensively - and how Houston will approach this game defensively.

What Will the Defensive Gameplan Be?

It is extremely hard to predict what Frost and UCF will try to do offensively on Saturday. The Houston secondary has been a glaring weakness thus far, allowing 262.3 passing yards per game, which is the second-worst in the Big 12.

However, even with this, UCF could struggle to exploit this weakness. Why? Well, the Knights, with both QBs Barnett and Jenkins, have the worst passing offense in the conference. UCF averages only 158.0 passing yards per game, the second-worst in the Power Four, behind only the Clemson Tigers.

On the ground, UCF has been average. It has solid running backs, but none of their numbers stand out. The Knights are averaging a solid 5.9 yards per rush and nearly 200 rushing yards per game. However, don't think that UCF plans to win the game on the ground either.

Houston has the best run defense in the conference so far and the sixth-best in the nation, allowing just 63.5 yards on the ground. This means that trying to win the game by dominating the trenches probably isn't realistic for UCF.

What the Cougars should expect from UCF remains unclear. However, expect the Knights to want to establish at least a run game while not avoiding the secondary entirely. Even with a backup QB, at the moment, the stats don't lie, and neither have the games - Houston can't defend the pass through four weeks of the season.

The game plan for Houston needs to be centered on defending the passing attack - even with Barnett out. Sure, run defense is critical too, but the Cougars know that even with their starter out, the Knights must test Houston's secondary. Plus, the Cougars need to generate more pressure with just eight sacks in 2026.

If Houston wants to help out the secondary, then obviously getting pressure on the QB will be critical. Plus, Jenkins isn't much of a dual threat, so blitzing a lot would make sense for the Cougars.

With Jenkins, Houston could finally put up a good pass defense. But even then, he looked great against TCU. It will no doubt be interesting to see how both teams approach this game without Barnett starting for the Knights.

But regardless, the secondary will only become a bigger point of emphasis for Houston moving forward. If it plans to make noise in 2026, and it does, then the secondary must eventually show up. A game like this is a must-win for the Cougars, who will only face tougher opponents in the future.

Jenkins could be a problem, but he could also be the QB Houston uses to kick the defense back into gear. This game will be huge in determining if the defense is good enough to survive the rest of the season.