EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Saturday, November 17^th, the (9-1) Cincinnati Bearcats will be on the road to take on the (9-0) UCF Knights.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of UCF 34.6 – Cincinnati 26.4 with an over/under of 61.0.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of UCF 35 – Cincinnati 27.

Mark is predicting a final score of UCF 23 – Cincinnati 16.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: UCF 271.6 YPG > Cincinnati 212.0 YPG

Rushing offense: UCF 271.4 YPG > Cincinnati 235.8 YPG

Scoring offense: UCF 44.2 PPG > Cincinnati 35.0 PPG

Scoring defense: Cincinnati 14.9 PPG > UCF 21.2 PPG

Passing defense: Cincinnati 177.0 YPG > UCF 214.7 YPG

Rushing defense: Cincinnati 101.2 YPG > UCF 208.9 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: UCF +1.8 > Cincinnati -0.3

Summary:

Cincinnati is (9-1) with wins over UCLA, Miami (OH), Alabama A&M, Ohio, UConn, Tulane, SMU, Navy, and South Florida.  Their lone defeat was a 24-17 overtime loss at Temple in week eight.  The Bearcats rank 29^th in points per game (35.0) and 7^th in scoring defense (14.9 PPG).  Running back Michael Warren II had four touchdowns in Cincinnati’s 35-23 win over South Florida last week.  Warren II is second in the nation with 17 rushing touchdowns to go along with 1,082 yards.  Quarterback Desmond Ridder has completed 63% of his passes for 1,897 yards with 15 touchdowns to 5 interceptions.  Ridder is also the team’s second leading rusher with 486 yards and 5 touchdowns.  The Bearcats’ defense ranks 15^th against the pass (177.0 YPG) and 10^th against the run (101.2 YPG).  Cincinnati ranks 90^th in turnover margin (-0.3).

UCF is a perfect (9-0) and has the nation’s longest active winning streak at 22 games.  This season, UCF has victories over UConn, South Carolina State, Florida Atlantic, Pittsburgh, SMU, Memphis, East Carolina, Temple, and Navy.  The Midshipmen played UCF tough, but ultimately, the Knights prevailed 35-24 last week.  The Knights rank 8^th in points per game (44.2) and 28^th in scoring defense (21.2 PPG).  Quarterback McKenzie Milton has completed 60% of his passes for 2,309 yards with 21 touchdowns to 5 interceptions.  Milton is also a threat on the ground where he has run for 8 touchdowns.  Greg McCrae has rushed for 673 yards and is averaging 8.9 yards per carry.  The Knights’ defense ranks 49^th against the pass (214.7 YPG) and 105^th against the run (208.9 YPG).  UCF has the 2^nd best turnover margin (+1.8) in the country.

Bottom Line:

UCF has averaged 45.6 PPG at home and Cincinnati has averaged 27.8 PPG on the road. UCF will have to jump on Cincinnati early if they want to negate the impact of Michael Warren II who is one of the best running backs in the nation.  McKenzie Milton will have to be at his best against a Cincinnati defense that has allowed only one opponent to score 30 points all season.  Turnovers will play a key factor as UCF prevails in a close one at home.

UCF wins 33-28

Contest Rules:

To be eligible to win a prize in any contest at The Crowd’s Line, you must be at least 18 years old and a resident of the United States or Canada. You must also submit your score prediction on our official prediction tool (blog widget), and include a valid email address. Contest winners are determined according to The Crowd’s Line scoring methodology. If more than one entrant has the same winning score, final contest rankings and prize winners are selected by random draw. Only one entry per person is allowed for each contest; multiple entries from a single player will be deemed invalid. There are no prize substitutions or exchanges available from The Crowd’s Line.

All prizes will be sent by e-mail within two weeks after the conclusion of each contest.