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Let’s Take a Look at the UCF at Michigan Week 2 Free Pick, Odds & TV Info
When: Saturday, Sept. 10, Noon ET
Where: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor
TV: ABC
Opening NCAAF Lines: Michigan -34.5
Why Bet on Central Florida?
The Knights have zero chance of winning but I suppose could cover. They opened with a 38-0 win over FCS school South Carolina State. Justin Holman threw for two touchdowns and ran in another, and Matthew Wright kicked a career-best four field goals. Holman was 14-of- 28 for 193 yards and picked up another 40 on the ground, including a 10-yard keeper he ran in for the game’s first touchdown. It was the head coaching debut of Scott Frost for UCF. You may remember he was once a very good quarterback for Nebraska. Frost arrived in Orlando after serving as the Oregon offensive coordinator from 2013-15, and its wide receivers coach from 2009-12.Yes, UCF rolled but that score could have easily been 55-0 had the Knights not settled for four field goals in the first half. Two of the those field goal-ending drives even started in South Carolina State territory. The UCF offense stayed busy, running 91 plays for 462 yards. In 2015, the Knights averaged 65 plays per game. It was the most offensive plays by a Knight squad since Nov. 16, 1992 vs. Kent State. The UCF defense recorded its first shutout since Nov. 28, 2014 when the Black and Gold blanked USF in Tampa.
“I thought we played well, but we can play a lot better,” Frost said. “Particularly the first half offensively, we missed a lot of opportunities, but we played better in the second half. At times we looked good and other times we shot ourselves in the foot. We have to keep getting better but that is a huge first start, getting that monkey off our back to get this win, so I’m really excited.”
UCF has never faced Michigan since the program’;s inception in 1979. As a football-only member of the MAC from 2002-04, UCF went 2-1 against schools from the state, with wins over Western Michigan and Central Michigan but a road loss at Eastern Michigan. The only other school from Michigan that the Knights have faced is Grand Valley State (UCF won, 67-3, in 1987.
Why Bet on Michigan?
The Wolverines opened with 63-3 rout of Hawaii, the school’s most lopsided win since 1975. Wilton Speight threw three touchdown passes. Speight, who beat out Houston transfer John O’Korn for the job, finished 10 of 13 for 145 yards. Michigan, which didn’t need to punt once, had its most decisive win since beating Northwestern by 69 points four decades ago and its highest-scoring opener since routing Ohio Wesleyan 65-0 in 1905.Freshman Chris Evans turned heads in his first game, carrying eight times for 112 yards and a pair of scores. He is the third true freshman running back to eclipse 100 rushing yards in his collegiate debut, joining Chris Perry (2000) and Walter Cross (1998). The run game against Hawaii posted 306 yards as eight different players had a rush of 10 yards or more. Michigan scored on seven consecutive drives after its interception on the first offensive play. It is the just the fourth time in Michigan program history that U-M did not punt in a contest — the first since 2009 against Delaware State.
The defense looked stout in its first game under the direction of new defensive coordinator Don Brown. Together, the unit combined for 10 tackles-for- loss (four sacks), two interceptions (both returned for touchdowns) and one forced fumble. Senior linebacker Mike McCray had 3.5 tackles for loss including two sacks and a forced fumble. The Wolverines held Hawaii to just 72 total yards in the first half, including -16 rushing yards. Hawaii did not earn a first down until 4:53 remaining in the second quarter.
