Last year, the UCF Knights took on the East Carolina Pirates in a game that would decide the AAC Championship and now both teams enter the game just looking for a win to try to set the trend going into next season.
The last time UCF won a game coincidentally was against East Carolina last year when Breshad Perriman caught a game-winning Hail Mary to become co-AAC Champions. The Pirates go into this week with a three game losing streak and have little to offer on the defensive side of the ball outside of a solid pass rush.
“I mean every time we play [East Carolina] it is always hyped up. The atmosphere is always great,” senior H-back Joseph Puopolo said. “I feel like every time we play them I think both teams are all jacked up and ready to go play.”
Senior linebackers Zeek Bigger and Montese Overton are the only players of note, but they can definitely make an impact on any game. With the Knight’s offense just starting to come into shape, the offensive line can ill afford to allow Bigger or Overton to disrupt their gameplan.
Overton has recorded 7.5 sacks this season and actually managed 4 of them in just one game against SMU in October. The senior outside linebacker is also a threat against the pass, ranking second on the Pirates in pass breakups with 6.
On the other hand, Zeke Bigger fills the role of a prototypical middle linebacker as he averages 8.1 tackles per game on the season. Bigger has led East Carolina in total tackles in six of their ten games thus far this year.
Offensively, East Carolina has always prided itself on strong players at skill positions and that has not changed in 2015. The Pirate’s run game has been strong this season thanks to senior running back Chris Hairston and junior quarterback James Summers. Hairston has made a name for himself as a consistent producer for East Carolina, averaging 4.9 yards per carry through his career dating back to his sophomore season in 2013.
“They usually have a pretty good offense. They lost their two starting quarterbacks so they have to rely on their three and four guys, but they both do a great job,” head coach Danny Barrett said. “They’ve always had good skill players as well, their receiving core and running game are still intact.”
QB James Summers has been the East Carolina starter for each of the last three weeks after just starting once in the first seven weeks of the season. Summers is dangerous when he breaks contain, but UCF should be used to running quarterbacks by now after facing Houston’s Greg Ward Jr. and Temple’s PJ Walker. If they can force Summers to throw more often, the junior may make a few mistakes and then the Knights just have to capitalize.
UCF’s offense showed signs of progress against Tulsa, but the biggest issue that burdened the team was their inability to put the ball in the endzone. The Knights have to correct that issue early on against the Pirates if they hope to pull away their first victory of the season.
UCF will take on and attempt to steal their first victory of this grueling season at home against East Carolina on Thursday on ESPN at 7:30 p.m.
