Central Florida @ East Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 19, 2015 ) East Carolina 44, Central Florida 7

Special teams have been anything but special for East Carolina early in the season. The Pirates, who allowed a punt return for a touchdown and had two kicks blocked last week, look to rebound from a humbling loss at Virginia Tech when they open play in the American Athletic Conference against visiting UCF on Saturday.




East Carolina, which routed UCF last season 44-7 on the road as the Knights were nearing the end of their 0-12 season, dropped its last two games after opening the season 2-0. The Pirates have wins over Western Carolina and North Carolina State but took a couple steps back in last week's 54-17 thrashing against the Hokies. UCF torched Florida International 53-14 in its latest outing, its biggest scoring output in two years, which was apparently a loss so embarrassing that FIU fired its coach after the game. The Knights ran for 276 yards and passed for 225 in the contest with true freshman McKenzie Milton at quarterback replacing injured starter Justin Holman, who remains questionable for Saturday.
TV: Noon, ET, CBS Sports Network. LINE: East Carolina -3

ABOUT UCF (2-2): The veteran Holman, who threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns as the Knights split the first two games of the season, is still batting a hamstring injury. Holman has a history against the Pirates, having led UCF to the 2014 AAC title with a win over East Carolina when he completed a Hail Mary to now-Baltimore Raven Breshad Perriman on the final play of the title-clincher. The ground game looks strong as senior running back Dontravious Wilson scored three rushing touchdowns in the first half last week and his highly touted backup Jawon Hamilton expects to play after returning to practice early in the week after limping off the field midway through the FIU contest.

ABOUT EAST CAROLINA (2-2): The Pirates rank first in the AAC in total offense by averaging 533 yards but have plenty of work to do on the other side of the ball evidenced by their nation-low one sack on the season and the loss of starting nose tackle Demetri McGill to an ankle injury last week. Senior Philip Nelson leads the revamped passing attack with 1,457 yards through the air and nine touchdowns. Top target Zay Jones, who has 558 yards and one touchdown on the season and an astounding 22 catches against South Carolina two weeks ago, left last week's game with a leg injury but said he is ready to go.

EXTRA POINTS
1. The Pirates lead the all-time series 10-4 but UCF won three of the past five meetings.
2. Excitement remains high in Greensboro, S.C., as 47,000 seats were sold in advance for Saturday's game.
3. East Carolina may make a switch at kicker with freshman Jake Verity getting the call over incumbent Davis Plowman, who is 6-for-10 on field goal attempts this season.

PREDICTION: East Carolina 30, UCF 20