KJ Jefferson vs Seth Morgan's statistical comparison ahead of college football Week 1 matchup

The UCF Knights open their season against the New Hampshire Wildcats on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. The Knights are 38-point favorites.

The Big 12 program will likely start KJ Jefferson as its quarterback for the game. On the other hand, New Hampshire will start new quarterback Seth Morgan, as Max Brosmer has transferred to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

KJ Jefferson vs. Seth Morgan's stats comparison

Completion percentage

KJ Jefferson will play his first with the UCF Knights in 2024. In the last five seasons, he has been with the Arkansas Razorbacks. During this time, he completed 65.1% (626-of-962) of his passes.

Seth Morgan spent three seasons at VMI Keydets, and this season is his first with New Hampshire. At VMI, he completed 61.5% (452-of-735) of his passes.

Passing yards

Jefferson has thrown for 7,911 yards and averaged 8.2 yards per attempt. Morgan has thrown for 4,815 yards and averaged 6.6 yards per attempt.

Passing touchdowns and interception

Jefferson has thrown for 67 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in five seasons of College Football. Morgan has thrown for 28 touchdowns and had 24 interceptions.

Rushing yards and touchdowns

Jefferson has rushed 1,876 yards from 523 attempts. He has scored 21 touchdowns. Morgan has rushed for 384 yards from 160 attempts and has nine touchdowns.

What does the UCF coach expect to see?

UCF coach Gus Malzahn talked about his hopes for what his team can do in the game.

"There's nothing like being out there. They put the coaches on the sideline, and they let the players play," Malzahn said (h/t TCPalm). "That's what I am most excited about, to see how they are going to respond — to success, adversity, how close they're going to be, who the leaders that are going to step up (are).

"I want us to play good team football. I want us to be sound on offense, without all of the penalty crap. I want us to be sound of defense. I want to see some hits where the crowd goes, 'Woo!'"

The victory is guaranteed for the Knights, so this game should be used as a chance to see how the nearly 40 new players will fare.