A 2-2 Scott-Frost-led UCF football team will open up conference play against Greenville, North Carolina’s ECU Pirates.
UCF will continue a growing streak that began with a 38-0 shutout against South Carolina State, falter at the University of Michigan 14-51, surprise with the Maryland Terrapins, albeit in a double-overtime 24-30 last minute loss, and explosion against FIU 53-14 last time out.
Prior to South Carolina State, one might’ve thought a fast-paced Scott Frost offense would include a top-heavy passing game to lead the Knights, but what we’ve seen so far is an all in pour into the run game in addition to key plays we saw against Maryland and FIU. Examples being several fourth and X plays and a successful punt fake against the Big 10’s Maryland.
Challenges Faced by Both Teams
Frost made it clear to media and fans that the rushing game has improved significantly over the course of the last few weeks, touting a 275-119 rushing yard team milestone against a then No. 5 Michigan, and a 276-80 lap-running stat against the Panthers.
“They take away the run game so I think that’s going to be a challenge for us as our run game has gotten better,” UCF Football head coach Scott Frost said.
“This is a big challenge, and I’m excited to see where we stack up aginst ppl in the conference. I think ECU is one of the better teams in the conference.”
UCF remembers quite well Breshad Perriman’s fourth-quarter Hail Mary reception in Greenville to give the Knights back-to-back conference titles in 2014.
ECU’s offense, this season, averages over 524 years per game, the most in the country, although those yards have struggled to turn into points on the board.
The Pirates were hammered by Virgina Tech last week 54-17 due to mistakes made largely by special teams, mistakes seemingly fixed by UCF since they experienced the same issues against Michigan.
FIU Injury
At FIU, freshman running back Jawon Hamilton sustained a knee injury as and may not see game time Saturday afternoon as a result, giving RB Adrian Killins an opening for additional offensive plays and more shots at being featured in ‘UCFast’ highlight plays.
Advanced Vegas odds give ECU a 52% chance of coming out victorious.
Whether Hamilton or Killins step up to the line of scrimmage, ECU will have a hard time stonewalling the run game as in games against previous opponents, much less against UCF’s punch down the lane.
If Scott Frost gets his way, UCF will run the Pirates aground.
