Start Time: Saturday, October 22 at Noon EST.
Location: Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Connecticut.
TV/Streaming: ESPN News and WatchESPN.
Radio/Live Stats: 96.9 FM for radio and over here for live stats.
Odds: UCF opened a two point favorite and has now moved to a 4.5 point favorite.
Records: UCF is 3-3 (1-1 AAC) and UConn
is 3-4 (1-3 AAC). Say this for the Huskies though: all three conferences
losses come against the three best teams in the AAC: Navy, Houston, and
USF.
All-Time Series: The game that UConn Head Coach dubbed the Civil Conflict (and then later, the “ConFLiCT”) stands at 2-1, UConn. It is of course the most important rivalry in college sports a divisional football game that is played annually.
But we at Underdog Dynasty have embraced the absurdity of a “rivalry” without geographic proximity or shared cultural stakes. And we’ll continue doing that. So it was disappointing to hear Diaco downplay it:
“We’re excited to play,” Diaco said when asked about the Conflict. “I’ve had enough of the conversation externally, so I’m not going to get into all that business.”
Dude. You came up with this. You made a trophy. And a countdown clock. You’re stuck with this thing now.
UCF Outlook: UCF had Homecoming ruined last week. Maybe tomorrow, they can ruin UConn’s.
The Knights endured one of the most disappointing and
shocking losses in recent program history last week, leading Temple for
all but one second of the game. Couple that with the loss to Maryland in
the second overtime and the Knights are maddeningly close to being 5-1.
But at 3-3, the Knights need the win here if they hope to establish
themselves as a better than middling AAC team. With the exception of
games against Houston and USF, every game remaining on the schedule is
very winnable - but let’s not have to sweet about getting bowl eligible,
huh?
Freshman QB McKenzie Milton has the potential for a great
game against the Huskies, who have shown that they are vulnerable to a
dual threat quarterback. Last week, USF’s Quentin Flowers threw for 213
yards (and two touchdowns) and rushed for 157 yards (and three
touchdowns) against UConn. And the week before that, Houston’s Greg Ward
Jr. rocked the Huskies with 389 passing yards (and three touchdowns)
and 65 rushing yards (and two touchdowns). If Milton can play like he
did the first half against Temple, watch out.
Unfortunately the Knights are down a couple players
following the Temple game. Starting left guard Tyler Hudanick was
rolled on from behind by a Temple player and suffered an injury to his
left leg. His season is done. He’ll be replaced by Chester Brown (top of
this week’s depth chart at the position) and Tate Hernly and Micah
Anderson may rotate in. Sophomore wide receiver Tristan Payton is
suspended for conduct issues and will not travel. Payton’s contributions
this year have been modest – he has six catches for 55 yards and one
touchdown.
UConn Outlook: The Huskies also have
that “need to get back on track” feeling. The UConn defense was shredded
in back-to-back weeks against Houston (giving up 42 points and 540
yards) and USF (giving up 42 points and 529 yards).
But UConn’s front seven may still cause problems for the
Knights. They’re the strength of the defense and generally do well
stopping the run. We saw against Temple how badly the Knights perform
when the run game is suffocated, as it was in the second half. If the
Huskies can muster similar success, it could easily be another painful
game for UCF.
But they’ll need to scrape together more offense to
overcome a Knights defense that has been solid to very good for
substantial stretches (not so much when they’re stranded on the field
for as long as they were against Michigan and Temple). The Huskies have
yet to score more than 27 points in a game.
UCF fans should keep an eye on Arkeel Newsome who has
been a playmaker for UConn. He had two impressive touchdowns last week
against the Bulls: a 70-yard catch from QB Bryant Shirreffs and a four
yard touchdown run in which he dragged USF defenders into the end zone.
He finished with 162 yards from scrimmage. Frankly, the UConn staff
needs to involve him more in their game plan. As an outsider looking in,
Newsome seems underutilized.
Prediction: I’ll take the Knights to win
on the strength of Milton as a dual threat. But we’ve seen enough
dysfunction out of the Knights recently that I expect it to be
touch-and-go.
