Considering their sizeable disadvantage in the spread, the South Florida Bulls can expect to have a real challenge on their hands on Friday. South Florida and the UCF Knights will face off in an American Athletic battle at 8 p.m. ET at Spectrum Stadium. South Florida is limping into the matchup on a three-game losing streak.
The Bulls took a serious blow against the Memphis Tigers last week, falling 49-10. QB Jordan McCloud had a memorable game, but not in the way you want to be remembered: he passed for 45 yards on 14 attempts.
UCF narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Tulane Green Wave 34-31. UCF's success was spearheaded by the efforts of QB Dillon Gabriel, who accumulated 317 passing yards and picked up 58 yards on the ground on 12 carries, and RB Otis Anderson, who picked up 49 yards on the ground on four carries and caught three passes for 72 yards. Gabriel didn't help his team much against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane three weeks ago, so this was a nice turnaround for him.
UCF's victory lifted them to 8-3 while South Florida's defeat dropped them down to 4-7. A pair of stats to keep an eye on: UCF enters the contest with 321.2 passing yards per game on average, good for eighth best in the nation. But South Florida comes into the game boasting the 12th fewest passing yards allowed per game in the league at 178.8. We'll see which of these strengths -- offense or defense -- will win out.