Written by Zach Bartkus
ORLANDO, FLA. – In a primetime showdown this Saturday, the 9-1 (5-1 AAC) Cincinnati Bearcats travel to Orlando to face the UCF Knights 9-0 (6-0 AAC). This past Sunday ESPN announced that the likes of Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Rece Davis would be on campus for this American Athletic Conference clash. This is the first time College GameDay is going to be at the University of Central Florida and the school couldn’t be any happier.
Back in October of 2016, UCF Athletic Director Danny White posted a photo of him standing with College GameDay’s own Lee Corso. The tweet read, “Honored to have Coach Corso stop by campus today! Enjoyed telling him about the Big Time fanbase we have & how we’re just getting started.” Now as Kirk Herbstreit has stated, UCF and it’s fan base has wanted GameDay to come to Orlando for about 2 years now and White’s words would line up perfectly with what Herbstreit said. Now with all of UCF’s infamy throughout the country for their, “Undefeated National Champions” claims, can this game live up to the hype and expectations that fans and spectators alike have because of College GameDay?
This season, the Knights have managed to put up a total of 398 points on their opponents as compared to Cincinnati’s 191. UCF has put up more than double the amount of points than their upcoming opponent, but it will not be an easy task to blow the Bearcats out of the water as they have done to some of their opponents this season. Cincinnati’s defense has allowed their opponents 142 points total this season, allowing an average of 14.2 points per game. The Bearcats have shutout the likes of Miami (OH) and Navy, which UCF only beat by 11 last Saturday.
Although the Knights have seemed to struggle with some teams unexpectedly this year, their offense has shown out again after last season’s epic breakout. Quarterback, McKenzie Milton and his offense have combined for a total of 51 touchdowns, 22 coming from the air game and 29 on the ground from UCF’s trio of running backs. Adrian Killins Jr., Taj McGowan and surprise sensation, Greg McCrae, have given opposing defenses trouble trying to keep up with not just the fast passing game from the Knights, but also the ground game. Watching how Cincinnati will try and deal with UCF’s offense will be something to behold on Saturday night.
The latest College Football Playoff Rankings have the Knights at number 11 in the country and the Bearcats at 24. Those rankings now make this primetime showdown a Top 25 primetime showdown.
Don’t bow out of watching this game because it is not two power 5 teams going at, this will be a solid matchup that could end a now 22-game unbeaten run for UCF bolstering Cincinnati to a 10-1 season, or the Knights could keep rolling and pick up their nations best 23rd straight win.
You can catch the game between the first and second place American Athletic Conference West teams at 8:00 PM nationally on ABC.
