Bobby Maxwell
300-Unit College FB Book Buster - Central Florida
It’s been a tough season for Marshall to this point, losing by huge margins to Ohio State, Bowling Green and Southern Mississippi. The Thundering Herd come into this one at just 1-4 on the season and 0-3 ATS in the last three, 1-4 ATS this season.
But what really makes me like Central Florida in this one is its ability to run the football, amassing 228 yards last week against UAB in its 42-7 victory as 11 ½-point favorites. The Knights don’t just do it with one RB, although Ronnie Weaver is clearly their leader, but they get quality yards from QB Jeff Godfrey, Weaver, Latavius Murray and Brendan Kelly. They have five players with over 20 yards rushing against UAB.
Central Florida has dominated Marshall the last five years, including two straight wins at Marshall, including a 30-14 win in 2008 as seven-point underdogs. The Knights are 5-1 ATS in the last six matchups against Marshall.
UCF’s defense has been dominant this season, allowing just 265 yards per game, good enough to lead Conference USA. Marshall’s running game is already one of the worst in college football and against the Knights’ defense, expect it to be non-existent today. This defense forced three turnovers in the blowout win over UAB last week and returned two of them for TDs.
Offensively, UCF uses Godfrey and Rob Calabrese at QB with both able to run and throw the ball.
Central Florida comes into this one on ATS streaks of 8-2 overall, 6-2-1 in October, 9-1 on the road, 4-0 in C-USA games and 6-0 against teams with a losing record. The Thundering Herd are on several ATS slides, including 0-4 in conference games, 1-4 overall and 1-3-1 coming off a bye week.
UCF is simply the better team in this matchup – by far. I’ll lay the points and take the Knights in this one as they roll by at least two TDs.
Northcoast
Marquee - C. Florida