The Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl is at stake when when the NC State Wolfpack (7-5) battle the the UCF Knights (9-3) on Friday. The game will begin Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN.
UCF won in a close one over East Carolina 32-30 in its last game. Breshad Perriman had an outstanding performance in the win, hauling in four receptions for 139 yards and one TD. William Stanback had a big game as well, totaling 101 yards and two TDs on 24 carries. NC State smashed North Carolina 35-7 in its last game. David Grinnage had a good performance for the Wolfpack, registering three catches for 22 yards and one TD.
UCF is favored by a slight three-point margin in its matchup against the Wolfpack. The matchup has an estimated Over/Under (O/U) of 49 points. Heading into Week 18 of the college football season, the Knights are 9-3 Straight Up (SU) and 8-4 Against The Spread (ATS). Over their last five games, the Knights have records of 4-1 both SU and ATS. UCF is doing something right as of late. Over the last five games, they’ve been racking up 177.8 rushing yards per game, while they only average 132.2 for the season. The Wolfpack will have a hard time putting up points against UCF’s scoring defense, which only gives up 17.9 points per game. Expect the Wolfpack to have a difficult time throwing the ball against the 11th-best pass defense in the land. The Knights give up only 185.4 yards per game through the air. The Wolfpack will need to stop UCF’s defense from getting to their quarterback in order to be successful in this game. The Knights rank 25th in the nation in sacks with 2.8 per game. On the special teams side, NC State may give up some big plays to the Knights in the return game. The Wolfpack have allowed 36.6 return yards per game, making them one of the worst in Division I.
On the other side, the Wolfpack have a record of 7-5 both ATS and SU. Over their last five games, the Wolfpack have a SU record of 3-2 and a 4-1 record ATS for those betting with them. The defensive front seven better be ready for NC State’s bruising rushing attack which has averaged 230.8 yards on the ground over its past five games. NC State’s defense is one of the best on the road, allowing just 22.4 points per road game. The NC State defense has allowed just 106 yards per road game this season, eighth in the nation. The UCF offensive line better prepare this week because the Wolfpack get to opposing quarterbacks with ease during their away games. The Wolfpack defense is currently fourth in the country with an average of four sacks per road game. Yellow flags are typically a rare sight when the Wolfpack are playing. They average the 21st-fewest penalties in the land with 4.8 per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – UCF, ATS Winner – UCF, O/U – Under
Notes
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Central Florida’s last 6 games.
Central Florida is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games.
NC State is 5-1 SU when leading at the half this season. UCF is 9-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
NC State is 6-0 SU when leading at the start of the 4th quarter this season. UCF is 8-0 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter.
NC State is just 1-4 SU this season in games where it loses the turnover battle.
UCF is undefeated 4-1 SU in games where it comes out ahead in the turnover battle, and 3-2 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
The UCF defense has forced an average of 2.2 turnovers per game this season, but NC State is 3-1 SU when turning the ball over at least 2 times in a game.
UCF has drawn an average of 8.2 penalties on opponents over its last five games. NC State is an even 2-2 SU this season when penalized at least 8 times in a game.
The UCF offensive passing attack is ranked only 64th in the nation, while the NC State pass defense is ranked 28th. The Wolfpack passing game is ranked just 96th, compared to the 11th-ranked pass defense of the Knights.
The UCF rushing attack is ranked only 105th in the country, while the NC State run defense is ranked 78th. The Wolfpack rushing game is ranked just 38th, compared to the fifth-ranked run defense of the Knights.
