Pitt Game Preview: UCF

Game Four: Pitt (1-2) vs. UCF (3-0)

Saturday, September 21 at 3:30 p.m.

Series Record: Tied 1-1

Last Game: UCF won 45-14 (2018)

Pitt came tantalizingly close to knocking off hated rival Penn State last week in what would have been a pretty major upset. After that disappointment they get no reprieve, as this weekend they play an opponent that will be just as, if not more, difficult. Though the University of Central Florida plays in the G5 American Athletic Conference, the Knights have developed into a premier program. Since joining their current league in 2013, they have appeared in 3 NY6/BCS Bowls, winning 2 of them. They also post an overall record of 55-25, which gets more impressive when you consider that almost half of those losses come from 2015, an anomalous season when they went 0-12. Since 2017, when they began their current run of dominance, they are 28-1 with their only loss coming to LSU in last year’s Peach Bowl. One of those wins came against Pitt last season, when the Panthers travelled down to Orlando and were thoroughly embarrassed. This year the Knights make the return trip and, while knocking them off will still prove a challenge, Pitt has to at the very least hope to make it a closer result.

Offense

I doubt there are any major college football teams that can claim to have had the roller coaster of uncertainty when it comes to who will be playing Quarterback than Central Florida has had the last year. First, their star McKenzie Milton went down with a horrific knee injury against South Florida towards the end of last season that is keeping him out for this entire year. Brandon Wimbush transferred in from Notre Dame and it looked to be a competition between him and Darriel Mack, Jr. to be the starter. However Mack missed all of Fall camp with an ankle injury, so Wimbush got the start in the opener against Florida A&M. However, an injury saw him sidelined for the second game against Florida Atlantic. This paved the way for true freshman Dillon Gabriel to take over starting duties. He played well in that game and got the start last week against Stanford despite Wimbush presumably being cleared to play. With his play last weekend against Stanford (347 yards, 4 touchdowns), he made it awfully hard for UCF Head Coach Josh Heupal to take him out in favor of Wimbush or Mack (who despite being cleared to play has yet to see action). Though Gabriel is likely to start this weekend, regardless of who UCF has lining up behind Center, the Knights seem to be pretty set.

Whoever the Knights have at Quarterback, they’re likely to great protection as they boast a formidable Offensive Line. Over half the starters on the line, Center Jordan Johnson, Left Guard Cole Schneider, and Right Tackle Jake Brown, were 1st Team All-AAC Honorees last season. Joining them are Notre Dame transfer Parker Boudreaux at Right Guard and a healthy Samuel Jackson, who missed most of last season due to injury, at Left Tackle. Jackson, previously exclusively a Guard, is playing at the position for the first time at the collegiate level.

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