Why KJ Jefferson once wanted to play for TCU. On Saturday, he led UCF’s upset of Horned Frogs

When he was a football star at North Panola High School in Sardis, Miss., KJ Jefferson dreamed of continuing his career at TCU.

On Saturday, Jefferson finally got the opportunity to play and star at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

But, it wasn’t for the Horned Frogs.

He led UCF to its 35-34 come-from-behind win over TCU, including leading the game-winningtouchdown drive with under a minute left in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.

Jefferson’s TCU connections run deeper than high school dreams, the quarterback was coached by current TCU offensive Coordinator Ken Briles when the pair were at Arkansas from 2020-22.

Coming into the season, Jefferson said he circled the game on his calendar because of his former love of TCU.

“In high school, I just loved the offense, just watching watching them play,” Jefferson said. “I mean, Trevone [Boykin] and those guys, KaVontae Turpin. I just always feel like I can see myself playing for TCU and so just coming into the game this whole week, and just preparing, and just having that chip and edge this whole week...and never losing sight of that, and just knowing that, man, that was just my motivation coming into the game.”

He finished his high school career with 9,582 passing yards, 2,922 rushing yards and 143 total touchdowns. Instead of coming to Fort Worth, the fourt-star prospect headed to Arkansas where his offensive coordinator was current TCU offensive coordinator Ken Briles. The quarterback-coach tandem excelled in Fayetteville for a couple of seasons before Briles left for TCU in 2023 and Jefferson headed to UCF for the 2024 season.

On Saturday, Jefferson started slowly as the Knights fell behind quickly and trailed 31-13 in the third quarter.

UCF head coach Gus Malzahn praised his quarterback for his fighting after getting banged up in the first half of the game. Jefferson said there was no chance he was coming out.

“I got pretty banged up a little bit,” said Jefferson, “I looked them dead in the eye and said I’m not coming out the game. I’m fighting through it. I talked to my teammates, they knew I was in pain as well but I told them I’m not coming out the game, I’m gonna fight, I’m in this with y’all.”

The Mississippi native got off to a slow start in the first half going 4-of-11 for 64 yards with a touchdown in the first half while struggling to move the ball through the air against the TCU defense.

The second half was a different story with the quarterback going 9-for-11 for 166 yards with two touchdowns and coming up clutch when it mattered most.

On the final drive of the game Jefferson almost equaled his first-half total with 54 passing yards including a 20-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Hudson which led to the game-winning extra point.

Jefferson explained how he led his team to a massive comeback win after trailing by 18 points.

“Just proving myself right, like I said, just knowing that I always had that thought in the back of my mind that they counted me out. So just having that and going into that last drive, I looked everybody in the eye and told them I got y’all. So with that being said, I knew I had to go out there, put my best foot forward and make the plays.”

Jefferson also received help from the Knights rushing game which gouged the Horned Frogs for 289 yards with two rushing touchdowns led by 180 yards from RJ Harvey.

The win gives TCU it’s first loss of the 2024 season while UCF remains perfect with a 3-0 start to the season.