The UCF Knights starting quarterback competition has come to an end for week 1, as Cam Fancher has been named starter in a bit of a suprise to most UCF and college football fans around the nation.
Cam Fancher beat out Jacurri Brown and projected starter Tayven Jackson for the starting role in the teams home opener against Jacksonville State.
On Aug. 18, UCF head coach Scott Frost told reporters that he was not ready to announce the team's starting quarterback during a press conference, adding that, "the battle is still ongoing."
Fast forward to August 21st, CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reported that the redshirt senior and FAU transfer, Fancher had won the starting role at quarterback just a week away from kickoff.
UCF is set to name FAU transfer Cam Fancher as its starting quarterback, sources tell @CBSSports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) August 21, 2025
Had been competing with Indiana transfer Tayven Jackson and former Miami QB Jacurri Brown. Fancher has made 26 career college starts at FAU and Marshall. pic.twitter.com/9noDvgycCs
Tayven Jackson spent the last two seasons playing for the Indiana Hoosiers and the previous year under Josh Hepeul at Tennessee.
Jackson, a former four-star recruit, played in six games with five starts over the past two seasons at Indiana. The Greenwood, Indiana native completed 78 o͏f 1͏28 pa͏sses for 914 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions.
He played an important role in Indiana’s win over Washington in 2024, completing 11 of his 19 passes for 124 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, while starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke was out with an injury.
Here is Frost latest quote to The News-Journalon the QB battle this off-season:
"In spring, you know, we saw a lot from all three of them that would lead us to believe they can be successful," Frost said "I'll tell you the truth, I would go into the season with any one of the three and feel good that they can go win us games."
Fancher, a left-handed dual-threat, started his career at Marshall, then Florida Atlantic. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Ohio native has completed 60.6% of his career passing attempts for 5,294 yards with 27 touchdowns and 23 interceptions, and he has rushed 331 times for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.
The former Indiana Hoosier can still make a big impact for UCF this fall at quarterback, but for now, it sounds like he’s going to be QB2 or QB 3 in a backup role in Orlando under coach Frost.
Scott Frost is returning to the Knights program where he once led them to a 13-0 record in 2017, before taking the Nebraska job his alma mater. Frost was fired in his 5th season after going 16-31 and 10-26 in Big Ten conf play at Nebraska.
UCF football opens next Thursday, August 28th against Jacksonville State with a 7:00 p.m. ET kick