UCF Knights v. Tulsa Golden Hurricane: Preview, TV, Radio, Betting Line, Start Time

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/11/6/9681580/ucf-knights-v-tulsa-golden-hurricane-preview-tv-radio-betting-line

Much of the UCF (0-9, 0-5 AAC) chatter this week has been about the Knights' stellar graduation success rate of 93% overall, and 90% for the football program (both numbers are good for #1 among FBS public schools).

That this has seemingly been more of a focus than the upcoming game should tell us something about the level of enthusiasm for what ought to be a loss against Tulsa (4-4, 1-3 AAC) en route to a winless season.

But hey, the football program is at least successful academically, and that's been a great legacy of the George O'Leary era.

The match-up against Tulsa is the Knights' last road game of the season, so it will be much easier for Knights fans to get to watch the rest of the slog to 0-12 in person. Yaaay.

I kid, I kid. Seriously, we'll all miss this when the season ends and the yearly football drought begins.

Start time: 12 PM EST, Saturday November 7.

Location: Chapman Stadium, Tulsa, OK

TV: ESPNews

Radio: 96.9 FM & 740 AM - Orlando.

Betting Line: Tulsa is a 17 or 17.5 point favorite, depending on where you look. The smart prediction is that Tulsa will cover.

The Series: 5-3. There's history here given that both the Knights and the Golden Hurricane were in Conference USA. UCF and Tulsa played three times for Conference USA Championships, with Tulsa winning two of those championships.

The Golden Hurricane are undefeated against UCF on their home turf, but hey, the Knights won last year in Orlando 31-7.

UCF Outlook: I mean, it's perpetually terrible, right? UCF is coming off two of the worst losses in program in history. The team's problem areas are numerous, and there was never going to be a reasonable chance for interim Head Coach Danny Barrett to solve them.

But - if you're looking for signs of life for the future, there are perhaps a couple to be found. Last week, the Knights finally got something out of the moribund running game. The offensive line, especially on the right side, did a very fine job of run blocking. The Knights totaled 212 yards on the ground against Cincinnati, only the second time the team had exceeded 100 yards rushing. Much of that was attributable to redshirt freshman C.J. Jones who ran for 123 of them and the Knights' sole touchdown of the day.

So keep an eye out to see whether that success can be replicated or improved on against Tulsa. There haven't been many signs of progress to cheer UCF fans, and it would be nice if the performance against Cincinnati was not an aberration.

Tulsa Outlook: The Golden Hurricane have clearly improved this year under head coach Philip Montgomery, who has already doubled their win total from last year. And I tend to think that the Golden Hurricane are a better team on the field than their record and statistical ranks would suggest. Three of Tulsa's losses were to very good teams: remaining AAC unbeaten teams Houston and Memphis, as well as 7-1 Oklahoma.

On Saturday, expect the Tulsa passing attack, led by Keyarris Garret, to tear through the UCF secondary, which just yielded 489 yards through the air and 6 passing TDs to Cincinnati.  Garrett has been a huge part of Tulsa's offense. The senior wide receiver ranks fourth nationally for receiving yards (992) and fifth in yards per game (124). And though ultimately it was a losing effort, he played extremely well against Memphis, ringing up an NCAA season high 268 receiving yards and three long touchdown catches. And, worse for UCF fans and the Knights' poor secondary, the rest of the Tulsa receiving corps is solid too. Four different Tulsa wide receivers have had a 100+ yard game so far this season.

Expect a Tulsa victory to bring the Golden Hurricane close to evening up the series.

Cincinnati Savages UCF 52-7: Recap and Analysis

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/american-athletic-conference/2015/10/31/9650850/cincinnati-savages-ucf-insert-recap-and-analysis

In their first ever meeting, the Cincinnati Bearcats crushed the UCF Knights 52-7. No surprises here: the Knights are as bad without George O'Leary this season as they were with him.

Dull as this game was for Knights fans, at least it was played on Halloween. I say this because the Knights staggered around the field like zombies. And I'm not talking about your modern day, "fast" zombies. I mean your old school zombies. More Night of the Living Dead than 28 Days Later. Zombies lurching back and forth, pieces of their rotting bodies just sloughing off, probably shedding a limb or two periodically.

That's what we got to see today.

The Knights opened with an ineffective drive before punting... and promptly gave up their first touchdown of the day when Kyle Gibson got injured and fell down, uncovering Chris Moore for the easy touchdown catch. That was a two play drive by the way: a 43 yard pass with a 15 yard penalty by UCF tacked on the end, then the touchdown pass. It took twenty-five seconds.

UCF responded with what had seemed to be the rare productive drive in which the Knights moved the ball both passing and rushing. The drive fizzled following an aborted trick play (an end around to Nick Patti who looked to pass, but no one was open) and an incomplete pass on third down. Then Matt Wright, who has been decently reliable, doinked a 34-yard FG attempt off the right upright.

There were opportunities for UCF to stymie the following drive by the Bearcats, which included an unsuccessful attempt at a double pass (because if you're playing UCF, why not?). But the Knights gave up a fourth down conversion, and Kiel ended up throwing a 59 yard touchdown pass when the UCF blitz failed to reach him in time.

UCF's next drive, like so many this year, ended in a turnover. Justin Holman over-threw a deep ball directly into the hands of the waiting Cincinnati defensive back. Three plays later, Kiel had thrown his third TD pass of the first quarter.

Kiel left the game early in the second quarter after going 7/7 for 158 yards and 3 TDs (which is a QBR of 431), yielding time to the backup QB Hayden Moore. It is a frightening thing when a team is so bad that garbage time begins in the early second quarter, but there you go. That's UCF this year.

Hey, Shaquill Griffin got another pick though. Off Moore. In that early second quarter garbage time. And it didn't translate to points.

Sigh.

Moore would soon get his first touchdown pass of the day, however, and UCF would not get too much done the rest of the half, either. With 4:04 to go in the half, a Cincinnati running back Tion Green picked up a touchdown on an seven yard run and made the score 35-0 following the extra point.

UCF almost had a productive drive to end the half . . . but the Knights couldn't score on fourth and goal from inside the five.

For reasons unknown, Cincinnati Head Coach Tommy Tuberville put Kiel back in to start the third quarter. I suppose it's not actually much of a risk given that the UCF defense could not get any pressure on the QB. Kiel quickly completed two more passes. The second one was for 78 yards and a touchdown to Johnny Holton. Really. It was the Bearcats' third touchdown drive of less than a minute.

Emphasizing UCF's utter futility, the Knights were again denied points on their first drive of the third quarter, when Wright again doinked the FG attempt, this time off the left upright.

What followed was a mercifully clock chewing drive capped by another Kiel touchdown pass, his fifth of the day. And so the Knights stood at 49-0 with time left in the third quarter. Kiel's day was really done this time, and the Cincinnati signal caller ended up 15/15 for 319 yards.

The Knights would eventually get on the board in the fourth quarter with redshirt freshman running back C.J. Jones's touchdown run to make it 52-7. It's a little frightening to think things could have even been worse for UCF, but Cincinnati went for it on fourth and five in the red zone which gave the Knights an opportunity to force the turnover on downs (which they did, oddly enough).

Were there any bright spots for the Knights today?

Maybe a little bit. A very little bit. The offensive line, especially the right side, did a decent job of run blocking. The Knights totaled 212 rushing yards, and Jones had some strong runs for a total of 123 yards and the touchdown, including runs of 50 and 20 yards. None of this was really relevant given the game situation the Knights quickly found themselves in, but hey raw numbers are nice.

UCF Knights v. Cincinnati Bearcats: Preview, TV, Radio, Start Time, Betting Line

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/american-athletic-conference/2015/10/30/9641790/ucf-knights-v-cincinnati-bearcats-preview-tv-radio-start-time-betting

The Danny Barrett era, such as it is, begins at noon for UCF (0-8, 0-4 AAC) against the Bearcats (4-3, 1-2 AAC). The last time the Knights had an interim head coach, it was Alan Gooch, the year was 2003, and the Knights went 0-2 to end their season in the MAC (that'd be two conferences ago, of course).

Knights fans are hungry for some reason to be optimistic, but I hope no one is naïve enough to believe that George O'Leary's resignation will cause any meaningful immediate improvement. There are just so, so, so many problems with this Knights team. Expect the Bearcats to cruise tomorrow.

Start time: Sat., Oct. 31 at Noon EST

TV: ESPNews

Location: Nippert Stadium - Cincinnati, Ohio

Radio: 96.9-FM & 740-AM - Orlando

Betting Line: UCF is a 27.5 point underdog. Ooof.

The Series: You're about to watch the start of it. UCF and Cincinnati have never played. Before the season, this looked to be one of the most interesting AAC east division games - both UCF and Cincinnati had been excellent in conference the past two years, with the Knights winning the conference championship outright in 2013 and the Knights sharing the title with Cincinnati (and Memphis) last year.

Unfortunately, the Knights have tanked this year and there's no end to the losing in sight. This once-anticipated match-up should be a beatdown in the Bearcats' favor.

Cincinnati Outlook: Cincinnati has been a bit underwhelming this season. Heck, our Underdog Dynasty preseason poll had them number one in the east (though we had UCF number two, so shows what we know). The Bearcats have shown that they're not in the AAC's top tier this year, having lost to both Temple and Memphis. But they're a fine team, and more than capable of blasting a bad UCF squad.

Expect Cincinnati's offense to standout in this game. Cincinnati is averaging 555.6 yards per game. Incidentally, that's more than double UCF's average offensive output (257.6 yards per game). While the Knights' defense has a pulse, Cincinnati should be able to contain the Knights' poor offense and quickly outpace them.

Unlike UCF's Justin Holman, Cincinnati QB Gunner Kiel has been excellent after returning from injury against UConn last week. Kiel went 26/35 for 327 yards, two passing touchdowns, and added a third touchdown on the ground. I don't expect the result against UCF to be much different.

UCF Outlook: Last week, the Knights showed a glimmer of hope against Houston - moving the ball on offense, making plays and containing Greg Ward Jr. on defense . . . for a bit. Then it was a collapse to end the half, and things got worse from there. I hope I sound realistic and not pessimistic: but there are still no reasonable grounds to believe that Knights will notch a win (not just against the Bearcats, there's no particular reason they should notch a win at all this season).

Sitting at 0-8, it's hard to find good things to say about the Knights. But the defense has had some guys make plays this year -  Chequan Burkett, Shaquill Griffin, and T.J. Mutcherson come to mind. Oddly enough, the Knights' defense is statistical very similar to the Bearcats, with the Knights only giving up a few more yards and points per game on average. But the Knights desperately need help from the offense to be able to stay in games, and no help seems forthcoming.

Interim head coach Danny Barrett is a Cincinnati alumnus, which should add some interest to what ought to be another painful game for UCF. Though Barrett v. Tuberville is a far cry from the more interesting O'Leary v. Tuberville match-up we had hoped to see.

Ozymandias: A Retrospective on the Resignation of UCF Knights Head Coach George O'Leary

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/american-athletic-conference/2015/10/26/9613590/the-resignation-of-ucf-head-coach-george-oleary-a-retrospective

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.

And on the pedestal these words appear:

'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:

Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!'

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

The lone and level sands stretch far away."

- Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias (1818)

Shelley's point was this: achievement is impermanent, and time has a way of making empires fade.

If you told me before the season began that it would be George O'Leary's last season at UCF, I would have believed it. The retirement rumors had long swirled and were at a fever pitch in 2014 when some claimed that O'Leary would retire following the Penn State game in Ireland. If you told me that he would leave after presiding over a colossal wreck of a season, sitting at 0-8, I would have been shocked.

O'Leary leaves a complicated legacy. He built this UCF program, leading it to virtually every meaningful achievement. The Knights' first bowl appearance. Their first bowl win. A Fiesta Bowl win. Their first national ranking. Their first top ten ranking. On O'Leary's watch, UCF built an on-campus stadium and jumped conferences twice.[1] He coached the Knights to four conference championships: two in Conference USA and two in the American Athletic Conference. He built winning teams from unheralded recruits, putting players like Blake Bortles, Breshad Perriman, and Latavius Murray into the NFL.

And he bookended all of this with winless seasons. O'Leary went 0-11 in 2004, his first season with the Knights. Even if the team can notch a win this year - which seems very unlikely - O'Leary won't be wearing the headset for it.

What happened off the field also complicates O'Leary's legacy. Before UCF, he spent a total of five days as the head coach of Notre Dame before being fired for making false statements on his resume. O'Leary described it this way:

Many years ago, as a young, married father, I sought to pursue my dream as a football coach. In seeking employment, I prepared a resume that contained inaccuracies regarding my completion of course work for a master's degree and also my level of participation in football at my alma mater. These misstatements were never stricken from my resume or biographical sketch in later years. During my coaching career, I believe I have been hired because of the success of my players on the field and the evaluation of my peers. However, these misstatements have resurfaced and become a distraction and embarrassment to the University of Notre Dame, an institution I dearly love.

And of course, this meant that UCF was able to get a coach who would have been otherwise inaccessible, and at a bargain price.  Over the years, UCF proved loyal to O'Leary - even in difficult times and rocky seasons - and O'Leary reciprocated.

Though O'Leary was fired in ignominy from Notre Dame, the UCF sports marketing department embraced a campaign that focused on the entity of the Knight's new coach, casting him as a heel and old school tough guy. The 2004 UCF football poster featured a close-up of a shouting O'Leary and the unfortunate phrase, "Change is nothing to FEAR. The Coach, now that's another story." This, in a year in which the Knights would end up losing every game. Commercials highlighting O'Leary were also . . . awkward.

It was during George O'Leary's tenure that player Ereck Plancher collapsed and following conditioning drills in March 2008. Plancher's death, determined by the Orange County medical examiner to have resulted from sickle cell trait complications, was an absolute tragedy. Extensive civil litigation followed, and though O'Leary was not a defendant, he was a prominent figure in the case. The jury found that UCF's Athletic Association was negligent in Plancher's death. UCF ultimately prevailed on a sovereign immunity issue, and UCFAA's liability was reduced to $200,000.

O'Leary's often candid comments to the media seemed sometimes refreshing, and at other times remarkably tone deaf, especially when cast in the light of the Plancher tragedy. He drew criticism for his statement that "There is no question the kids today are softer than kids in the past, in my mind. I think it comes from too much parental babying . . . ."

Still, O'Leary's emphasis on discipline and academics were praiseworthy (and, in truth, not praised nearly enough). In O'Leary's twelve years, there were few player arrests. And Knights earned degrees. UCF had a 90 percent graduation success rate in 2014 - third among public universities, first in the state of Florida, and first in the AAC. The football program improved its graduation success rate the last eight years in a row.

His influence on the fledgling AAC is significant. The Knights won the first conference title in 2013 outright and shared the second with Cincinnati and Memphis last year. The tremendous Fiesta Bowl win over Baylor gave the conference instant credibility in its inaugural year.

This year has been an unqualified failure on the field as the Knights sank to a spectacularly bad 0-8, including a loss to FCS Furman (the Knight's first loss to an FCS or Division II program since leaving Division II themselves). And for a coach who achieved so much success, it's unfortunate that it ends like this. More so considering the revelation that he wanted to retire following the Fiesta Bowl win and was talked back into returning for two more seasons. O'Leary could have easily gone out on the high note, but it wasn't to be. The disappointment of this season would not sting so badly had O'Leary not brought the program to the heights he did. He is the reason the UCF program has the privilege of having real expectations.

O'Leary is in the unusual position of having resigned twice from UCF this year - once from his gig as the interim athletic director, and now from the head coaching job. His choice to step away now will draw comparisons to Steve Spurrier's recent mid-season resignation. And like Spurrier, O'Leary's choice to end things now will help the program he put on the map move on to the future.

So long, George O'Leary. And thanks for the memories. May you have a better fate than Shelley's statue.

* * *

---

[1] Though the invitation to Conference USA came in 2003 before O'Leary was hired.

UCF Knights Coaching Search and Candidates: An Initial Reaction

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/10/25/9611786/ucf-knights-coaching-search-and-candidates-an-initial-reaction

It's an unusual circumstance to resign twice in rapid succession. Two weeks ago, George O'Leary resigned from his gig as UCF's interim athletic director to focus on his work as head coach of the football team. Now, O'Leary has resigned the head coach gig in the wake of a brutal loss to the Houston Cougars.

The Knights now sit at 0-8, with no reason to believe that the team will notch a win in what remains of the season.

Understandably, UCF fans are eager to turn to the question of who will occupy the head coaching job on a non-interim basis (QB Coach Danny Barrett holds the reins for now). At this early stage, most of the musings at this point are necessarily speculative.

So let's speculate, shall we?

Danny Barrett. If you're the interim guy, you've got to be at least mentioned in the conversation. Still, it seems unlikely that Barrett would get the nod. This feels more like a "caretaker" choice, similar to the Knights last interim coach, Alan Gooch (Gooch presided over two losses following the firing of Mike Kruczek in 2003, and was replaced by O'Leary in 2004). Barrett is in his fifth year on the UCF staff, having coached the RBs for four years and the QBs this season.

It would not be a flashy hire, but it wouldn't be outlandish either. Barrett has head coaching experience in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (six years worth of it). Promoting internally would be consistent with what has often felt like a philosophy of internal loyalty at UCF. Still, it's difficult to believe that the Knights could make enough noise with Barrett at the helm to give him a serious crack at being hired as head coach.

Brent Key.

[Update: UCF has now confirmed that Brent Key will not be the next head coach. And UCF will need to pay him $700k over twenty-four months as a result. Sign].

Nope. Nope. Nope. If you're on staff and don't get named the interim guy, you're not going to get the job on a permanent basis either. And in some ways, it's too bad. Brent Key was clearly being groomed as the George O'Leary successor, and had been tremendously loyal to GOL and the UCF program. It was obvious going into this season following much staff shuffling that this was going to be Key's audition (a fact reinforced when GOL accepted the interim AD job, necessarily requiring more delegation). And despite many circumstances outside of Key's control (i.e., the terrible injury luck), that audition was a flop. Having tethered his star to GOL's ultimately ended up being the wrong call for Key.

It would be nice if loyalty, passion, and sacrifice were enough. Unfortunately, they are not. Thanks for your service Brent Key. Next man up.

Tom Herman, Justin Fuente, Matt Rhule. No, no, and no. As long as we're eliminating candidates, let's get this out of the way (because we know someone out there is curious): none of the ascendant coaching stars in the AAC are coming over. I know the Knights owned the AAC last year and in 2013 (winning the inaugural championship outright in 2013 and sharing that honor in 2014). And I get that UCF stomped Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl in 2013. But these would still be fundamentally lateral moves to a team in disarray. These are not options.

Mario Cristobal. I am firmly convinced that the Knights should jump on Cristobal. Hiring a position coach (Cristobal is the offensive line coach at Bama) sounds strange only to someone who has not followed Cristobal's career. He's (relatively) young, and certainly energetic, which presents a break from what has felt like the aging and decay of the GOL era this season.

Cristobal was the head coach at FIU from 2007-2012. He was the program architect, taking the Golden Panthers to back-to-back bowl games and a milestone road win at Louisville in a year when the Cardinals would go on to be Big East co-champs. After a bit of backsliding, FIU tossed him out in what was an undoubtedly rash move.

He's a Florida guy, which is appealing for a program that has seldom succeeded in capitalizing on Florida recruiting. In addition to his experience at FIU, Cristobal was a player at UM and also had two head coaching stints with the Canes as well. Cristobal is a heck of a recruiter and also has a track record of identifying and pursuing the kind of under-recruited guys who can become stars (T.Y. Hilton, anyone?).

Here is where I won't even pretend to be dispassionate: Cristobal is the guy the Knights need. Let's go and get him.

And let's do it before UM does.

Lane Kiffin or your favorite mercenary of choice. With his reputation, former Oakland Raiders head coach, Vols head coach, and Trojans head coach Lane Kiffin inevitably will be a name tossed out there by the commentariat. But hiring Kiffin (or any other candidate who would obviously view the job as a stepping stone) seems inconsistent with the UCF approach, which seems to be focused on a head coach who would stay at the program for a significant period of time (thus the hire of a disgraced GOL in 2004, and the unsuccessful attempt to anoint Key his successor).

That's not to say it's a bad approach necessarily, just not what I would predict UCF to do. Heck, Houston has done pretty well with hiring guys who have gotten hot and moved on (Art Briles, Kevin Sumlin, and presumably Tom Herman will follow this pattern). But consistency has seemed more appealing to the UCF athletic department.

Will Muschamp or Al Golden? Heck, when I started writing this post, Al Golden still had a job. It's natural to speculate about the two most recent head football coaches at more established programs in the state of Florida.

Muschamp's tenure at Florida was absolutely dire and characterized by stellar defenses and an offense that played not to lose. He's a great recruiter and a tremendous defensive coach. If he learned from his mistakes at UF, he could make a very fine head coach (and I expect him to get the chance again). Would he want to leave the DC role at Auburn after a year to be a head coach again? Could UCF make a serious play for him? It would be an interesting hire, but would probably leave Knights fans with some misgivings.

Al Golden: no. Please no. While there's some inevitable hey-he-was-the-head-coach-at-a-big-Florida-program appeal, he failed to accomplish anything of note at UM. Golden failed to win enough home state recruiting battles, sometimes seeming to look too much to the northeast (sound familiar, Knights fans?).

Ultimately, it's hard to guess where UCF might ultimately go with its coaching search. It's just been so long since the Knights were looking to hire a head coach, and the program has progressed far beyond where it was at that time.

For now, Knights fans are eager to have something to talk about besides this disastrous, winless season.

Houston Cougars overcome slow start to crush UCF Knights, 59-10

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/10/24/9607658/houston-cougars-ucf-knights-recap

UCF Knights vs. Houston Cougars: Preview, TV, Radio, Start Time, Betting Line

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/american-athletic-conference/2015/10/23/9601490/ucf-knights-vs-houston-cougars-preview-tv-radio-start-time-betting

It's winless UCF's second consecutive match-up against an undefeated team.  The Houston Cougars travel to UCF for the Knights' homecoming game ranked #21 in the AP poll and #22 in the Coaches poll.

The Cougars are red hot and they're going to do bad, bad, things to the Knights tomorrow.

Start time: Sat., Oct. 24 at Noon.

TV: ESPNews

Location: Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando, FL

Radio: 96.9-FM & 740-AM - Orlando

Betting Line: Houston is a 22.5 point favorite.

The Series: UCF has been historically dominant against Houston, and owns a 5-1 record. The match-up has been mostly a tight one, with five of the games decided by seven points or less. The last two games in the series have had ridiculously tight endings.

In 2013, UCF edged Houston thanks to a pass break up in the end zone on fourth down:

Last year's game had an even wilder ending. Brandon Alexander forced Houston QB Greg Ward Jr.'s fumble through the end zone for a touchback, preventing what would have been the Cougar's potentially game-tying touchdown:

Well. Brandon Alexander isn't here anymore.

Houston Outlook: We don't know what George O'Leary is going to say to his team prior to their matchup with the Cougars on Saturday, but whatever it is won't be enough.   The Cougars demolished Tulane 42-7 last week, scoring a touchdown on the first play of the game and cruising from there.  Granted, at 2-4, the Green Wave far from what you would call "respectable", but the fact remains that Houston took care of business.  Now, UH gets to face (read: feast) an 0-7 UCF team that unofficially leads the nation in lowlights.

Not that the Cougs need any help.  Houston is ranked fifth nationally in points (45.7) and yards (554.7) per game, while allowing only 21.3 points and 375.7 yards per game.  The offense also averages 6.6 yards per play, good enough for 14^th in the nation.  Quarterback Greg Ward, Jr. has been central to Houston's success this season, accounting for 23 total touchdowns (14 rushing, nine passing) so far.  He's completing 71% of his passes, totaling 1524 yards and is averaging 6.78 yards per carry on the ground.  Ward, Jr. and the rest of the Cougar offense is more than capable of steamrolling the Knights, especially on the ground.

Defensively, the Cougs have the nation's leading tackler in linebacker Elandon Roberts.  Roberts has 50 total tackles through six games.  While the Cougar defense has struggled at times, don't expect that to continue against UCF, who ranks dead last nationally in total offense and averages only 3.87 yards per play and 15.7 points per game.

UCF Outlook: We hope The Basement is stocked up on kegs, because this won't be the week that UCF finally wins.

The Knights had opportunities last week in a 30-16 loss to Temple. The defense made plays (including finally an interception - Shaquill Griffin's pick six). But the offense continued to be absurdly bad, including QB Justin Holman who has been a disaster since coming back from injury against UConn. His stat line in two games back is a combined 37/81 for 322 yards, 1 TD, and 5 interceptions. Last week, UCF had four turnovers that gave field position inside Temple territory and only got a total of three points on them. The Knights had a staggeringly bad 134 yards of total offense. Things are . . . bad.

It's never a good sign when the most laudatory part of the team is the play of the kicker. We are really scrapping the bottom of the optimism barrel when we see newspaper articles raving about kicker play. That said, congratulations Matthew Wright! Despite missing what would have been a game-winning field goal against FIU, Wright's performance means the kicking game is probably the most functional part of this team. He's hit his last eight field goals (good enough to tie him for the eighth most consecutive field goals by a UCF player). He's missed only that game-losing attempt against FIU.

No way are the Knights going to be able to keep pace with the Cougars, despite a defense that is finally getting (some) things done. Iowa State transfer T.J. Mutcherson (whom we predicted to give the UCF secondary a boost this year) made an impact in his first UCF start, with seven tackles (one for a loss), a forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries last week. And of course Shaquill Griffin showed some ability with the aforementioned pick six - UCF's first defensive touchdown since 2012.

But none of this will be enough. Expect the Knights' march to 0-12 to continue tomorrow.