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#18 UCF Knights vs UConn Huskies: Preview and Prediction

UCF is looking to show the CFP Committee why they deserve to be ranked higher

By Luke Sarris
NCAA Football: Central Florida at Connecticut David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Start Time: Saturday, November 11th at 12:00 p.m. ET.

TV: ESPNU

Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game

Live stats: ucfknights.co/FBLiveStats17

Location: Spectrum Stadium, Orlando, FL

The Series: The series is tied 2-2. This will be the 5th consecutive season these teams will meet.

Betting Line: The line opened at UCF -37 and has now moved to UCF -39.

Three teams stand in between UCF and a perfect regular season. The Knights will take on UConn this Saturday in what some might call the Civil ConFLiCT (let’s all laugh). UCF looks to improve to 9-0 while the Huskies (3-6) need a victory to keep their bowl dreams alive.

UConn has struggled on defense this season which is bad news for them coming to play the #1 scoring offense in the nation. The Huskies are giving up 38.3 points per game, which is 8th worst in the nation. They’re also giving up 554.3 yard per game, which is 2nd worst behind East Carolina. Offensively, they’ve had mild success averaging 412 yards per game with almost 280 of them through the air. The Huskies will be without their starting QB Bryant Shirreffs so UCF should expect to see a heavy dose of run plays.

UCF is coming off of a tough battle with SMU where they were lucky to come out with a victory. Despite having a tough time getting into the end zone last week, the Knights are still leading the nation averaging 48.5 points per game. After what may have been McKenzie Milton’s worst game of the season (in which he still threw for 412 yards), he is 2nd behind Baker Mayfield in passer rating (189.1) and yards per attempt (11.1).

I can see this game being very similar to UCF’s matchup with East Carolina earlier in the season. You’re going to see a lot of points put up by a UCF offense that wants to correct their mistakes from last week. I’m also predicting you’re going to see one of the best overall performances by the Knights defense this season.

With attendance being an issue for the Knights this season and with rumors of big time schools gunning for Scott Frost as a coach, I hope the stadium will be full to see the undefeated #18 UCF Knights take the field for the second-to-last time this season.

Score Prediction: 58-13, UCF

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