The East Carolina Pirates (4-6) travel to take on the Central Florida Knights (0-10) this week in a battle between two teams seeking to put an end to their respective losing streaks. Both teams have issues, with the Knights having lost 11 in a row and the Pirates having lost three. Things have continued to look bleak for East Carolina, who were on the losing end of four straight. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov 19 and will be available on ESPN.
In its last game before the bye, UCF lost to Tulsa 45-30. Tre’Quan Smith had a great game in the loss, grabbing seven receptions for 131 yards and one TD. Justin Holman also had a great game with 293 yards and two TDs through the air. East Carolina also fell short, losing to South Florida 22-17. Bryce Williams had a quality performance for the Pirates, pulling in six receptions for 85 yards. James Summers put up 158 yards through the air.
The Pirates are favored by 17 points against the Knights this week and the Over/Under (O/U) is unavailable currently.
Sitting at 0-10 Straight Up (SU) and 2-8 Against The Spread (ATS), the Knights will look to improve heading into Week 12. In their five most recent matchups, the Knights went 0-5 SU and 2-3 ATS. UCF has made opposing defenses pay lately, averaging 109.0 rushing yards per game over the last five weeks, higher than its season average of 78.3. As for the UCF defense, a few key matchups could decide this game. The Pirates will need to stop UCF’s defense from stripping the ball. It ranks 17th in the nation in fumbles recovered with 0.9 per game. Concentration could be a key factor in this week’s game. The Knights hope to profit on East Carolina’s mental lapses, which contributes to 66 penalty yards per game.
As for their opponent, the Pirates head into Week 12 with records of 4-6 for both ATS and SU. Over their last five games, the Pirates have a SU and ATS record of 1-4 for those betting with them. Passing the ball has resulted in a high success rate for the Pirates, who average the 10th-best completion percentage in the nation at 67.8%. Moving on to the East Carolina defense, it has some favorable matchups that it may be able to take advantage of as well. The Pirates’ secondary will be looking to pad their stats when they face off against the Knights, who rank 112th in terms of completion percentage with an average of only 51.9%.
Predictions: SU Winner – East Carolina, ATS Winner – East Carolina
Notes
Central Florida is 2-9 ATS in its last 11 games.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Central Florida’s last 6 games.
Central Florida is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games.
Central Florida is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Central Florida is 16-7 SU in its last 23 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Central Florida’s last 6 games at home.
Central Florida is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Central Florida’s last 5 games when playing East Carolina.
East Carolina is 4-2 SU when leading at the start of the 4th quarter this season. UCF is 0-3 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter.
UCF is 0-6 SU in games where it comes out ahead in the turnover battle, and also winless (0-2 SU) when losing the turnover battle.
