Ugh.. I don’t want to do this, you guys. I really don’t want to exert effort previewing a game in which Cincinnati should absolutely thrash their opponent. That’s no disrespect to UCF, even more so than they’ve been doing to themselves this season, but there’s probably like a 3 1/2 percent chance the Bearcats even come remotely close to losing tomorrow.
But I guess we’ll breakdown the UCF Knights, if we absolutely have to. Also, I’m merging the standard preview and five keys into a single post because, you know, the whole “don’t care about previewing this game” thing.
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OFFENSE
A hot mess if I’ve ever seen one.
The Knights are dead last in college football in total offense, averaging just 258 yards per game, and second to last in scoring, averaging a hair over two touchdowns per game. When the likes of UConn are staring at you and buckling at the knees they’re laughing so hard, you know you have problems.
UCF has rolled through three quarterbacks this year after Justin Holman took a major step back in his junior year, coming off an encouraging sophomore campaign during which he threw for almost 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns to just 14 interceptions. He’s completed just a little over 50% of his passes for four touchdowns to eight picks in 2015. Yikes. The much lauded Central Florida running game has also taken a step back, as they’ve rushed for just 466 yards as a team this season. Hosey Williams and Tion Green have ran for more than that by themselves in 2015, with Mike Boone not that far behind at 390 yards.
Even though the defense has been lackluster stopping most everybody this season, I’d be surprised if the Bearcats have any trouble whatsoever with the Knights’ offense tomorrow.
DEFENSE
Better but only in relative terms.
Central Florida ranks 87th in yards allowed, with 418 per game, and 102nd in points allowed, with 33 per game. While technically ranked better than their offensive counterparts, this should neither be surprising nor scare you about this opponent yesterday. This is a Knights defense that allowed friggen UConn to drop a 40-spot on them. That was the first time since the last game of the 2013 season that the Huskies scored 40 on anybody, FCS opponents included.
The sources of the problem are numerous. UCF doesn’t create a whole lot of pressure on quarterbacks, they can’t get off the field on third down, they aren’t creating turnovers, they struggle to hold opposing offenses to field goals in the redzone, the list goes on and on. At the end of the day, the Knights don’t do a whole heck of a lot right on defense and it’s one of the reasons why they still have a big ol’ goose egg in the win column.
FIVE KEYS FOR CINCINNATI
- Get a big lead and sit on it
- No major injuries
- Build confidence in the secondary
- Reestablish a solid punting game
- Find a pass rush from the defensive line
FINAL THOUGHTS AND PREDICTION
Get in, get out, throw on a Halloween costume, consume copious amounts of chocolate candy, pass out on the back end of a sugar rush with a half-eaten Twix bar stuck to our cheeks.
Cincinnati: 56
UCF: 17