UCF has its sights set on another American Athletic Conference championship, but first they will need to beat the winless SMU Mustangs.
The Knights (6-3 overall, 4-1 AAC) are facing a must-win game on Saturday, as they currently in a three-way tie for first place in the conference. Saturday’s noon game at Bright House Networks Stadium will not only help determine the AAC pecking order, but also serve as the final home game for the senior class.
UCF has had its problems staying consistent this season, losing their only conference game to a UCONN team that is 2-7 on the season and only ahead of SMU in the AAC standings.
SMU Rundown:
SMU’s head coach June Jones quit coaching the team two games into the season and it usually doesn’t bode for a team’s success when they lose their coach mid-season. SMU still hasn’t been able to win a game this season, sitting at a dismal 0-9.
However, SMU has seen improvement over the past two games, losing to USF 14-13 in a game where they were shutting out USF until the 4th quarter before the Bulls scored two touchdowns to win the game.
SMU’s offense has been troublesome all season, but since inserting Matt Davis as the starting quarterback, the offense has seen noticeable improvement. Davis is a prototypical dual-threat quarterback, and the UCF defense will be on its heels to contain his rush.
If SMU wants any shot to win this game, they will have to a career game from Davis.
UCF Rundown:
How will Holman play?
That is the biggest question going into this game. Holman has shown flashes of brilliance throughout this season, but has also had games where O’Leary started to warm-up the back-up quarterback.
SMU has given up at least 38 points in eight of their nine games this season, so UCF will have plenty of opportunities to put points up on the board. Look for UCF to try and spread the ball around to their plethora of receivers in the first quarter.
The UCF defense shouldn’t have any issues containing SMU’s offense, as they virtually shutdown Tulane’s prolific passing offense last week. As long as UCF is aware of a dual-threat quarterback in the pocket, the Knights shouldn’t allow many scores from this team.
Final Thoughts:
The Knights shouldn’t have any problems with SMU this Saturday. The seniors will look to finish their final game at Bright House Networks Stadium with a perfect home record on the season and SMU does not pose a major threat.
Final score prediction: UCF 38, SMU 10.
