Saturday NCAA: Central Florida Golden Knights at Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns have an unusual November non-conference game on Saturday against Central Florida from Conference USA, so it would seem a walk in the park for the No. 2 Horns. And they are 35-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
But UCF is one of the best defensive teams in its conference, No. 7 in the country in run defense (87.8 ypg and just six scores) and No. 5 in the country with 27 sacks (Bruce Miller leads with nine), and the Knights put a scare into Texas two years ago in Orlando, losing by just three. So UT coach Mack Brown is making sure the players still on his team remember that 2007 close call because this seems to have the potential to be a bit of letdown game for Texas.
“All we have to do is look back to 2007,” Brown said. “They kicked an onside kick late in the game; we won, 35-32. Their seniors were on that team as sophomores a couple years ago so they will be coming here with a lot of confidence because they know they played us that well at that time.”
Central Florida coach George O’Leary said this year’s Texas’ team is stronger than the 2007 squad. These Horns are averaging 41.0 points and giving up just 240.8 yards per game.
“Texas has all the pieces in place to make a run at the national championship,” he said.
UCF will try and establish a run game with RB Brynn Harvey. UCF’s leading rusher ran for 212 yards against Memphis earlier this season but has carried 45 times for 143 yards in his last three games since then. UCF does lead C-USA in rushing and scoring. Texas has the nation’s top-ranked rush defense and has allowed just two rushing TDs all season.
The No. 2 Horns are the highest-ranked team UCF has played since becoming a Division I-A team. Texas has won a school-best 16 consecutive nonconference games. The winning streak ranks third nationally behind LSU (22) and Kentucky (17).
Central Florida needs just one win to become bowl eligible, but there’s something about this team in the first half of games: It has led only once at intermission. The Knights have outscored opponents 124-66 in the second.
The only chance UCF has of staying close is to catch Texas flat-footed right out of the gate.
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