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UCF KNIGHTS
American Athletic Conference – East Division
2015 Record – 0-12
ATS – 2-10
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
East Division #6
Conference #11
2015 Recap
Wow. We will have to get the MEGALOCKS record keeping staff on this one. Has there ever been a team that went 12-1 only to finish 0-12 just TWO seasons later ? In fact, before last season’s debacle the Knights had a 31-9 record over a three-year span. QB Blake Bortles was not around in 2015 but that was quite the drop-off.
2016 Preview
OFFENSE
Former Oregon OC Scott Frost is the new sheriff in town and brings the Ducks offense to Orlando. It will certainly take a while for the system to fall into place, not to mention the conditioning, but it feels like a smart hire.
The starting QB role is still up in the air. The spring game decided nothing so we will see what comes out of August camp. Overall, the Knights return 10 (!) starters on offense, and while this system is a whole new ballgame, it cannot hurt to have experience. Having said that, a lot of the projected starters are still only sophomores. They will probably work in a lot of freshmen this season as well. UCF only managed 81 (!) yards a game rushing last year which placed them 126th in the FBS. We really do not know what to expect this season to be honest other than to say they will improve on the 2015 rushing performance. Nobody on the roster had more than 350 yards rushing last year.
WR Tre’Quan Smith is a budding star who was fantastic in last year’s disappointing season. Smith reeled in 52 balls for 724 yards and has a shot of putting up really good numbers in this offense.
DEFENSE
Whoa. UCF allowed 37.7 points per game last season. The previous five campaigns they allowed 19,21,22,18 and 17. The offense could not sustain any drives (last in AAC in time of possession) and the defense was on the field A LOT. It was still a pretty dismal performance. Improvement needs to come across the board in the form of pass rush (16 sacks last season), run defense (199 yards per game allowed) and pass defense (brutal last season). That pretty much covers it.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The kicking game promises to be pretty good. PK Matthew Wright was 13/17 last season and punter Caleb Houston was a 2nd Team AAC performer. Tristan Payton did a fine job returning kickoffs. Looking pretty solid.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 3.0
MEGALOCKS says:
It should be interesting. The Knights only scored 13.9 points per game last season while giving up 37.7. The schedule is challenging and the road game at Michigan will not be fun. There are a couple of winnable games on the schedule so all is not lost.
Overall, we give the KNIGHTS a 3.0 ATS Value Rating (Below Average) this season. There are going to be a lot more downs than ups, but the point spreads should be inflated in the their favor after going 2-10 against the point number last season. We doubt we will play on them this year but do not think they are an automatic fade.
Want more UCF Knights football?
Website
http://ucfknights.com/index.aspx?path=football
Forum
https://ucf.forums.rivals.com/forums/ucf-fan-forum.8/
http://ucf.247sports.com/Board/UCF-Knights-Message-Board-Forum-59489
News
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/
http://bleacherreport.com/ucf-knights-football
http://knightnews.com/category/sports/football/
http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/sports/
https://twitter.com/UCF_Football @UCF_Football
https://twitter.com/osknights @osknights Shannon Green