ORLANDO, Fla. – Central Florida doesn't get as much national attention as other high-scoring programs, but the Knights' offense is right up there with the best in the country. UCF puts its high-octane attack on display Saturday against visiting Houston in an American Athletic Conference affair.
TV: Noon ET, ESPN2. LINE: UCF -23
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UCF has scored at least 41 points in all six of its victories and is averaging 46.6 points on the season - good for fifth-best in the nation. The team erupted for a season-high 63 points at Temple its last time out, racking up 614 total yards in a 42-point win. “I think for us, the three phases of the game — offense, defense and special teams — it was probably the best that we played,” said UCF coach Josh Heupel, whose team has lost two games by a total of four points this season. Houston had a close loss of its own last weekend, dropping a 34-31 decision against SMU.
ABOUT HOUSTON (3-5, 1-3 AAC)
Houston has lost two of its last three, although both of those defeats were against the league’s current division leaders in Cincinnati and SMU. Clayton Tune threw for a career-high 407 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to the Mustangs, while Mulbah Car had 136 rushing yards to help keep things close. “We’re that close, and we’ve been that close for a while,” Tune said. “We just got to break through and make those plays to win the game. It’s very frustrating.”
ABOUT UCF (6-2, 3-1)
The Knights put up 63 points against Temple with only 12 completions, although 48 rushing attempts (for 385 yards) certainly helped carry the offense. Dillon Gabriel has five touchdowns without an interception in the last two games, and he boasts a sparkling ratio of 20 touchdowns to five interceptions this season. Last week, Otis Anderson rushed for a career-high 205 yards and Bentavious Thompson scored two of Central Florida’s five rushing touchdowns, giving him four scoring runs in the last three outings.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Only one player on Houston (Marquez Stevenson, 34) has more than 15 catches this year.
2. Fourteen players for the Knights have a reception of at least 10 yards this season.
3. Houston topped UCF 31-24 in the last meeting, back in 2016, overcoming a 21-3 halftime deficit.
PREDICTION: UCF 50, Houston 31