The no. 21 Central Florida Knights will begin the follow up to their undefeated 2017 campaign when they visit the Connecticut Huskies. Kickoff is set for 7:00 EST on Thursday, August 30, at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. Fans can watch the game on ESPNU. The Knights are listed as a 23.5-point favorite over the Huskies. See what the rest of the Vegas lines for week 1 are here.
The Knights are fresh off an incredible season in which they claimed a national championship after going 13-0. The rest of college football isn’t exactly buying into Central Florida’s championship claim. But that should keep the Knights hungry to prove themselves in 2018. After all, they have the nation’s longest winning streak at 13 games.
Of course, much has changed since UCF’s upset of Auburn in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Day. Scott Frost has departed for Nebraska and been replaced by Josh Heupel, who is now a head coach for the first time. Heupel isn’t exactly starting from scratch, as the Knights still have plenty of talent. However, UCF does have several key players to replace on both sides of the ball, so it remains to be seen whether they can steamroll the rest of the American Athletic Conference like they did last year.
On the other side, Randy Edsall is in the second year of his second stint at UConn. The Huskies were 3-9 last season, including a 49-24 loss at the hands of UCF. UConn also lost 52-12 against Missouri, whose offense was orchestrated by Heupel. Those were two of several lopsided losses the Huskies suffered in 2017.
Needless to say, Edsall has his work cut out for him in the season ahead. Most see Connecticut as still being in the middle of a major rebuilding project. When Edsall took over the Huskies in 1999, they were still an FCS program, and a little more than a decade later, they were in the Fiesta Bowl. He’s capable of building the program up again, but just like last time, it could take some time.
Obviously, 23.5 points is a lot to cover on the road. It’s important to keep in mind that this is not going to be the same UCF team that went 13-0 a year ago. That being said, it’s easy to lean toward the Knights to cover this game. There is still a profound difference in the talent level of these two programs. Also, it’s not as if the Huskies are going to get a huge lift from being at home.
With the way the Knights so effortlessly put 49 points on the scoreboard against UConn last year, it’s not hard to foresee the UCF offense having its way again. Quarterback McKenzie Milton returns after throwing for over 4,000 yards last season. He may have lost a couple of his top receivers and a few key linemen from last year, but Milton has more than enough help around him. It shouldn’t be that difficult for Milton and company to adjust to Heupel’s system, which isn’t that different from what they ran with Frost. In fact, they could be more dangerous because this offense comes with a little more tempo.
The UConn defense, meanwhile, was the worst in the nation last year at defending the pass. Even if they bring back a little more experience in the secondary this year, they still don’t have players who have proven they can compete against a top-25 team. The Huskies are also replacing all three starters on the defensive line from that season. If the new set of players on the defensive line struggle to control the UCF running game, it’ll open up things in the secondary even more for Milton to create big plays in the passing game.
If the Huskies are going to keep this game close, they’re going to have to score points and keep up in a shootout. Such a scenario isn’t impossible to envision. The Knights lost some key players to the NFL from last year’s defense and are also making the adjustment to a 4-3 scheme, so there could be some growing pains early in the year. That leaves the door slightly ajar for the Huskies to put some drives together and find the end zone.
That being said, quarterback David Pindell isn’t exactly a proven commodity. He was benched in last year’s season opener and struggled again late in the season after regaining the starting job. He finished 2017 with four touchdown passes and six interceptions. To be fair, he did throw for over 200 yards and two touchdowns against UCF. Pindell’s running ability could also cause some problems for the UCF defense. However, the Huskies are lacking playmakers at the skill positions, so creating big plays could be a problem.
Ultimately, the Huskies don’t have the talent on defense to keep up with all the offensive talent the Knights have. The UConn offense should have some success, but they won’t keep up with the big-play ability that the Central Florida offense possesses. The Knights should pull away in the second half and cover the 23.5-point spread.