This game is not like the others.
For the Knights, it is personal. After losing to the USF Bulls four straight times between 2005-2008, the Knights are finally in a position where they are heavily favored to get their first victory over their I-4 rivals and clinch a share of the conference title.
The University of South Florida Bulls will come to BrightHouse Networks Stadium to take on the UCF Knights in a Black Friday, ESPN televised game. The rivalry game between UCF and USF came to a halt in 2008 when the Bulls declined to schedule further games in the series in an attempt to pursue higher profile BCS opponents.
Oh, how the times have changed.
The Knights (9-1) are sitting at the top of the American Athletic Conference and are two wins away from securing a BCS-berth. The Bulls (2-8) have gone through three head coaches in four years and are having one of their worst seasons in school history. The biggest consolation to this season for the Bulls would be to upset the Knights’ BCS hopes. The Knights look to match their longest winning streak in school history with a win over the Bulls on Friday.
The Bulls come into the game with the 111th ranked passing offense and 117th ranked rushing offense. We’ve seen the Temple Owls find kinks in the Knights’ armor, putting up 36 points against UCF. The Bulls will try and establish a run game to keep the ball out of the Knights’ first ranked offense in the American, if they can do that they will keep the game a lot more interesting.
USF will need to find something that will click on offense, as they are averaging a league worst 13.9 points a game. The Bulls will rely heavily on running back Marcus Shaw, who is averaging 5.4 yards a carry this season. Even though he hasn’t rushed for over 100 yards since September when the Bulls took on the Hurricanes, Shaw will need a career game if the Bulls want a legitimate shot to score on the Knights.
Bulls quarterback, freshman Mike White, took over as the starting quarterback for the Houston game and is still looking for his first win as the starter. He has thrown seven interceptions in his past three games, but has also thrown for over 30 attempts in each of those games.
Even though the Knights are heavily favored, the Bulls are approaching this game as a last stand to make a statement on the season. If the Bulls want to make this game interesting they are going to have to rely on things such as forced fumbles and huge kick returns to make a difference in the game.
UCF and its alumni will be watching closely, hoping not to see USF extend their series winning streak.
“The USF game matters to me because the first UCF away game I went to was my freshman year in 2007, and we lost 64-12. now it’s finally time to return the favor,” said the UCF-alumni run UCFnation told KnightNews.com
The Knights have had a history this season of close games, but the Bulls just don’t have a potent enough of an offense to match Bortles and his plethora of wide receivers.
Final score prediction: UCF: 31, USF: 10
