ORLANDO — Alonza Barnett III's frustration boiled over as UCF headed toward the locker room, directing it toward the Knights' offensive line after it surrendered a second sack in the final minute of the first half, the other resulting in a pivotal fumble and a two-score deficit.

Scott Frost dismissed the notion of players pointing fingers, but similarly made the point that the embattled unit needs to step up.

"When they blitzed, it was a problem. And they got home a couple times with a four-man pass rush," Frost said. "We need to be stouter on offense … and all we can do is go back and get to work this week."

In other words, it's a problem that likely does not have an immediate solution.

According to Pro Football Focus, UCF ranks 109th of the 138 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision in pass protection (57.5 grade) and 115th in run blocking (53.1). As a team, the Knights have rushed for 110 yards or less in seven of their eight games against Power Four competition.

UCF mustered 54 yards on the ground against Arizona State, its lowest output since a rain-soaked Sept. 12 defeat at Pittsburgh (20). Though the Sun Devils have allowed fewer than 100 in four straight outings, they ranked a pedestrian eighth in the Big 12 entering the night against the run at 126.2 yards per game.

Arizona State sacked Barnett three times, bringing the total to 14 over the Knights' last three contests, in addition to 96 total pressures, per PFF. Jalen Thompson stripped the redshirt senior from the blind side with less than a minute left in the first half, and Albert Smith III recovered at the UCF 19-yard line.

Four plays later, Carson Smith booted a 28-yard field goal to put the Sun Devils ahead 16-7.

UCF got another chance, from its 40-yard line, to cut the deficit before halftime. Thompson hit Barnett from behind before he could launch a Hail Mary. The quarterback erupted, shouting in the direction of left tackle Henry Tabansi and slamming his helmet onto the ground.

Tabansi, a two-year starter for Buffalo, is one of four new starters along the line under the direction of first-year position coach AJ Blazek. He is bookended by redshirt senior Preston Cushman, the lone returner who started all 12 games for the Knights in 2025.

UCF has jumbled the interior due to injuries and inconsistency. Brady Wayburn, Connor Meadows and Cooper Terpstra comprised the trio Saturday. LaParka Langston started the last two games, while redshirt freshman center Jacob Maiava is recovering from a second injury absence.

It's a largely undersized group by Power Four standards, and three of UCF's starters leveled up from lower-division football: Tabansi, Wayburn (UConn) and Meadows (Tennessee State).

Regarding the quarterback position, UCF chose to protect its investment in Barnett. It may need to change recruiting strategy going forward and reappropriate those funds into its quarterbacks' protectors instead.