It’s all or nothing for UCF (8-3, 6-1) football
The 8-3 Central Florida Knights close out the regular season at the 8-3 East Carolina Pirates tonight. The Knights will earn a share of their second straight conference title with a win Thursday. The Knights have a chance to re-frame a season plagued by inconsistency by becoming the first team in school history to win back-to-back conference championships.
Once the American Athletic Conference title favorite, East Carolina (8-3, 5-2) will look to end its reegular season with a defining win over its former Conference USA rival.
Central Florida is coached by George O’Leary. The Knights have a loss to Penn State 26-24 in Dublin, Ireland, plus road losses to Missouri 38-10 and against Connecticut 37-29. UCF has won 3 straight games since being upset by UConn. The Knights have home wins over Bethune-Cookman 41-7, BYU 31-24 in overtime, Tulane 20-13, Temple 34-14, Tulsa 31-7 and SMU 53-7, plus road wins at Houston 17-12 and South Florida last week 16-0. UCF is 7-4 ATS and the total is 5-6. The Knights were 10 point favorites against USF and the total was 42.5.
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East Carolina leads the series 9-3 against Central Florida. The Knights have won 2 of the last 3 games against the Pirates including 40-20 in 2012 when both were members of Conference USA. ECU has won 3 straight games against UCF in Greenville.
East Carolina has a dynamic duo of quarterback Shane Carden and receiver Justin Hardy have troubled defenses all season. The Pirates boast the No. 3 total offense nationally. Equally impressive is the Pirates’ ability to stop the run behind their physical linebackers. ECU ranks No. 7 in rushing defense.
East Carolina is coached by Ruffin McNeill. The Pirates have road losses at South Carolina 33-23 at Temple 20-10 and Cincinnati 54-46. East Carolina has won two straight games since the Cincinnati loss. ECU has home wins over NC Central 52-7, North Carolina 70-41, SMU 45-24, Connecticut 31-21 and Tulane 34-6, along with road wins over Virginia Tech 28-21, South Florida 28-17 and Tulsa last week 49-32. The Pirates are 5-6 ATS and the total is 5-6 this season. ECU was an 18.5 point favorite against Tulsa and the total was 70.
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What to watch:
Strong line play
UCF must have season-best production from both its offensive and defensive line to give itself a chance to score and slow down ECU’s high-powered offense. Carden ranks No. 2 in total offense among FBS quarterbacks this season.
Limit turnovers
UCF got lucky USF couldn’t capitalize on the three turnovers the Knights handed the Bulls last week. A much more productive offense like East Carolina won’t be so generous.
Productive run game
Whether it’s Will Stanback, Dontravious Wilson, Micah Reed or even Rannell Hall, UCF needs to effectively move the ball on the ground. It’s unclear whether Stanback or Wilson will be available for the game after being sidelined with shoulder injuries against USF.
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