Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
2/24Inside-5 share
2 of the team's 24 inside-the-5 carries (8.3%).
KJ Jefferson
KJ Jefferson: QB · UCF · #1.
Similar players
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
KJ Jefferson
Runs when the pocket breaks down. The six seasons span two programs and three head coaches: Chad Morris, Sam Pittman and Gus Malzahn. The first career honor came in 2023: All-SEC. One game to point at: 284 passing yards and 76 rushing yards against Colorado — Week 5, 2024.
Style of play
Style of play
Play style
Dangerous with both arm and legs — defenses can't just pin the ears back.
Fans
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
UCF in the news
- Big 12 addresses UCF fan chants
- UCF beats BYU for first time
Yahoo Sports Oct 29 - Baylor fires Dave Aranda
- UCF names QB vs BaylorYahoo Sports Oct 26
Where to follow
Career stats
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 5 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 57-3vs New Hampshire | 7/14 | 164 | 2 | 1 | 11.7 | 7.5 | |
| Wk 2 | W 45-14vs Sam Houston | 12/15 | 169 | 0 | 0 | 11.3 | 75.0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 35-34@ TCU | 13/22 | 230 | 3 | 0 | 10.5 | 87.6 | 3 TD passes |
| Wk 5 | L 21-48vs Colorado | 20/35 | 284 | 2 | 2 | 8.1 | 24.9 | Season-high 284 yds |
| Wk 6 | L 13-24@ Florida | 12/22 | 165 | 0 | 1 | 7.5 | 16.8 | |
| Total | 64/108 | 1012 | 7 | 4 | 9.4 | — |
Signature game
Week 3 · 2024
W 35-34
at TCU
230 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 87.6 · 46 rush yds (9 car)
Edged out TCU on the road in a shootout.
With R. Harvey — 180 rush yds (29 car) · 2 TD · 1 rec · 29 yds · 1 TD · M. McCarthy — 50.7 yards per punt · 3 punts · 1 inside the 20
Signature plays
The plays that mattered most
- Week 5 · Colorado · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +6.08KJ Jefferson pass complete to RJ Harvey for 75 yds for a TD (Colton Boomer KICK)
- Week 5 · Colorado · 3rd and 5 · Q1 · EPA −4.24KJ Jefferson pass intercepted, touchback. Preston Hodge return for no gain
- Week 2 · Sam Houston · 2nd and 10 · Q4 · EPA +4.14KJ Jefferson pass complete to Kobe Hudson for 53 yds to the SHSU 35 for a
- Week 5 · Colorado · 4th and 4 · Q4 · EPA −4.02KJ Jefferson sacked by Nikhai Hill-Green for a loss of 5 yards to the COLO 9
- Week 1 · New Hampshire · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +3.76KJ Jefferson pass complete to Myles Montgomery for 49 yds for a TD (Colton Boomer KICK)
- Week 5 · Colorado · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +3.75KJ Jefferson pass complete to Trent Whittemore for 54 yds to the COLO 38 for a
4 more plays
- Week 3 · TCU · 2nd and 7 · Q3 · EPA +3.63K.Jefferson pass complete. Catch made by K.Hudson for 45 yards. Tackled by J.Broughton at TCU 27.
- Week 2 · Sam Houston · 3rd and 14 · Q1 · EPA +3.51KJ Jefferson pass complete to Randy Pittman Jr. for 17 yds to the SHSU 35 for a
- Week 6 · Florida · 2nd and 9 · Q4 · EPA +3.37KJ Jefferson pass complete to RJ Harvey for 35 yds to the FLA 46 for a
- Week 5 · Colorado · 4th and 9 · Q4 · EPA +3.34KJ Jefferson run for 10 yds to the COLO 35 for a
Passing profile
Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
103 of 108 attempts matched to play-by-play
Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 103 passing plays (63 completions) against the box score's 108 attempts (64 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.
Adjusted ANY/A
7.4053 of 205 QBsSack rate
10.7%193 of 205 QBsSacked on 10.7% of dropbacks (193 of 205) — and still 53 of 205 in Adjusted ANY/A.
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Short
0–9 yds48%of completions
30 comp4.5 yds avg
Middle
10–19 yds24%of completions
15 comp14.8 yds avg1 TD
Deep
20+ yds29%of completions
18 comp35.2 yds avg6 TD
Overall 59.3% completion on 108 attempts · 18 deep completions averaging 35.2 yds.
Teams and coaches
2019Arkansas2-10HC: Chad Morris · Balanced
2020Arkansas3-7HC: Sam Pittman · Run-leaning
2021Arkansas9-4HC: Sam Pittman · Run-heavy
2022Arkansas7-6HC: Sam Pittman · Run-heavy
2023Arkansas4-8HC: Sam Pittman · Run-leaning
2024UCF4-8HC: Gus Malzahn · Run-heavy
Our ratings
Splits
Home and road splits, scheme and staff
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 206 | 1.3 | 10.4 | 1.0 |
| Road2g | 198 | 1.5 | 9.0 | 0.5 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 202 | 1.4 | 9.8 | 0.8 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Gus Malzahn
Pass share
37.5%
310 pass / 516 run
Plays / game
68.8
12 games
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Awards
Player standing · 2024
108 pass attempts and 61 carries in 5 games
About as many passes and runs a game as a typical FBS quarterback who plays every week.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Six seasons, two schools
- 2024 UCF MalzahnYear 6 · 5 games
- Dec 2023 Entered the transfer portalArkansas to UCF
- 2023 Arkansas PittmanYear 5 · 12 games
- 2022 Arkansas PittmanYear 4 · 11 games
- 2021 Arkansas PittmanYear 3 · 12 games
- 2020 Arkansas PittmanYear 2 · 5 games
- 2019 Arkansas MorrisYear 1 · 3 games
- High school North PanolaSardis, MS · Class of 2019Four-star, No. 320 in the 2019 class. Signed with Arkansas.
Moves
- Transferred from Arkansas to UCF, Dec 16, 2023.
How it ended
Six seasons, at Arkansas and UCF, 8,935 passing yards — the college career is complete.
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
2019 3 games
- Signed with ArkansasFour-star, out of North Panola
2023 12 games
The role got bigger.
- All-SEC
2024 5 games
The snaps went the other way.
- Transferred to UCFfrom Arkansas
Coaching lineage · 2019–2024
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: Chad Morris, Sam Pittman and Gus Malzahn.