Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Central Florida Knights
Bright House Networks Stadium – Orlando, Florida
Friday, November 14, 2014, 8:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN2
Opening Line: UCF -18
Current Line: UCF -20
Opening Total: 54 1/2
Current Total: 56
Opening Money Line: UCF -1200 / Tulsa +800
Current Money Line: UCF -1200 / Tulsa +800
The 5-3 Central Florida Knights are 3-1 in the American Athletic Conference. The Knights are looking to defend their conference title from a year ago but right now are behind 4-1 Memphis and Cincinnati in the conference standings. Central Florida hosts the 2-7 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Friday night. The Golden Hurricane are 2-3 in conference. Tulsa is tied for fifth with South Florida and Tulane.
Tulsa leads the series 5-2 against Central Florida. All meetings occurred between 2005 and 2012 when both were members of Conference USA. The teams met 3 times in the CUSA Championship game including a 33-27 overtime win by Tulsa in the 2012 Championship game, the last times the teams played.
Tulsa is coached by Bill Blankenship. The Golden Hurricane have home wins over Tulane 38-31 in double overtime and SMU 38-28. The SMU win last week snapped a seven game losing streak for Tulsa. Tulsa has home losses to Oklahoma 52-7, Texas State 37-34 in triple overtime, and South Florida 38-30. The Golden Hurricane have road losses at Florida Atlantic 50-21, at Colorado State 42-17, Temple 35-24 and Memphis 40-20. Tulsa is 3-6 ATS and the total is 8-1 this season. The Golden Hurricane were 14 point favorites against SMU and the total was 56.
Central Florida is coached by George O’Leary. The Knights have a loss to Penn State 26-24 in Dublin, Ireland, plus road losses to Missouri 38-10 and two weeks ago against Connecticut 37-29. The UConn loss snapped a five game winning streak for UCF. The Knights have home wins over Bethune-Cookman 41-7, BYU 31-24 in overtime, Tulane 20-13, and Temple 34-14, plus a road win at Houston 17-12. UCF is 4-4 ATS and the total is 4-4. The Knights were 8.5 point favorites against Connecticut and the total was 39.5.
Tulsa is being outscored 39-25 this season. The Golden Hurricane are #90 in scoring and #121 in points allowed. Tulsa is averaging 438 yards per game on offense including 294 passing and 144 rushing yards. The Golden Hurricane are #21 in passing and #90 in rushing. On defense, Tulsa is allowing 484 yards per game including 268 passing and 216 rushing yards. The Hurricane are #108 or worse out of 128 FBS teams in all three categories. Tulsa is -3 in turnovers with 15 giveaways. The Golden Hurricane average 68 penalty yards per game and opponents average 61. Tulsa is 73/182 on third and fourth down conversions and opponents are 58/140. Tulsa has 15 sacks and has allowed 24 this season. The Golden Hurricane are 27/38 scoring in the red zone with 18 touchdowns and opponents are 30/35 with 26 touchdowns. Tulsa has 2 defensive touchdowns and has allowed 2 this season as well.
Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans has completed 56.4% of his passes for 2,576 yards with 19 touchdowns and 9 interceptions, and also has 2 rushing touchdowns. Running back Zack Langer has 158 carries for 646 yards and 3 touchdowns. James Flanders has 76 carries for 335 yards, plus 5 catches. Receiver Keevan Lewis has 79 catches for 1,017 yards and 10 touchdowns. Keyarris Garrett has 35 catches for 520 yards and 3 touchdowns. Joshua Atkinson has 30 catches for 349 yards. Conner Floyd has 16 catches for 136 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Central Florida is outscoring teams 26-21 this season. UCF is #21 in points allowed and #87 in scoring. The Knights are averaging 330 yards per game on offense including 225 passing and 105 rushing yards. UCF is #115 in total offense and #118 in rushing nationally. On defense, the Knights are allowing 308 yards per game including 189 passing and 119 rushing yards. UCF is #17 or better nationally in all three categories. The Knights are -4 in turnovers with 16 takeaways. UCF is averaging 65 penalty yards per game and opponents are averaging 87. The Knights are 52/131 on third and fourth down conversions and opponents are 52/140. UCF has forced 23 sacks and allowed 18 this season. The Knights are 25/31 scoring in the red zone with 17 touchdowns, and opponents are 20/28 including 11 touchdowns. UCF has allowed a defensive touchdown and a punt return for a touchdown this season.
UCF quarterback Justin Holman has completed 56.6% of his passes for 1,718 yards with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, along with 73 carries for 117 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. Running back William Stanback has 136 carries for 504 yards and 8 touchdowns, plus 9 catches and 2 touchdowns. Dontravious Wilson has 60 carries for 171 yards, plus 7 catches. Breshad Perriman has 26 catches for 587 yards and 5 touchdowns. J.J. Worton has 31 catches for 422 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rannell Hall has 28 catches for 299 yards and a touchdown. He is questionable with a hamstring injury. Josh Reese has 16 catches for 244 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Tulsa is 4-9 ATS after failing to cover, 2-5 in November, 2-6 overall, 1-4 after allowing more than 200 rushing yards, 1-5 against teams with winning home records, after rushing for 200 yards or more and gaining 450 yards or more, 1-6 after allowing more than 450 total yards, and 0-4 after a straight up win. The under is 4-1-1 in this series recently. Tulsa has covered the last 4 times against Central Florida.
Central Florida is 4-1 ATS in Friday games, and after failing to cover, 5-2 against teams with losing road records, 9-4 at home, 15-7 after a straight up loss, 7-21 after passing for more than 280 yards, 1-4 in November, and 0-5 against teams with losing records. The favorite is 6-1 ATS in this series recently and home team is 5-1.
Central Florida has gotten a lot better on offenses at least in the passing game. They should be able to exploit the terrible Tulsa defense. The Knights should win this game handily with their dominant defense.
