Central Florida at Texas

Written by Hector Garza

Texas (8-0) recently jumped Alabama to gain the #2 ranking in the BCS Standings after beating then #13 Oklahoma State soundly last week 41-14 on the road. This week they take a break from conference play as they host Central Florida (5-3) from Conferene USA in Austin with gametime set for noon ET this Saturday. The last time these two teams met, the Longhorns pulled off a very close win, 35-32, after rallying in the 4th quarter past a 1 point deficit. The college football odds have the Golden Knights 36 1/2 point underdogs, with the total set at 48.

UCF is currently tied for 2nd in the East Division and is coming off a big 21-20 win against Marshall where they rolled up 14 4th quarter points. After posting 230 ypg in 2008, the offense is much improved this season averaging 336.6 ypg thru the 2009 campaign. Brett Hodges has proven a capable leader at QB. He’s compiled over 1500 yards with 10 td’s and 7 int’s, and he’s playing his best football now, going off for 342 yards and 2 td’s in a turnover free game last week. The receiving corps boasts 4 players with at least 18 receptions and 11 td’s, making it a diverse group. RB Brynne Harvey leads the runners with 679 yards and a respectable 7 td’s.

On the other side of the ball, the Knights have been playing well largely in part to their rush defense, which is currently ranked 7th in the nation with 87.8 ypg. They held Marshall to a total of 293 yards with only 56 yards coming on the ground. As a unit, they’ve been able to pressure opposing QB’s by tallying 27 sacks. 9 of those have come from one player, DE Bruce Miller, who’s also earned 11.5 TFL and will be doing his best to wreak havoc against a tough Texas offense.

While they’ve learned not to underestimate the Golden Knights, the Longhorns have done a good job taking care of their own business. They’ve all but locked up the Big 12 South with Heisman Trophy hopeful Colt McCoy throwing the ball at a stellar 72% completion rate for 1977 yards, 15 td’s and 8 int’s. His favorite target has been senior Jordan Shipley, who’s garnered 64 catches for 5 td’s and 777 yards. The rushing game has been shared by committee. Over 4 RB’s have at least 38 carries, and they have been successful accounting for 17 of the 32 td’s scored.

On special teams and defense the Longhorns have been flat out good. Texas leads the nation with 9 non-offensive td’s, 4 off punt/kickoff returns, 2 from blocked punts, and three int. returns. Two of those int. returns came last week against Oklahoma State in a game where they earned 5 takeaways, making their total for the year at 26. Against stiff competition, the Horns are holding opponents to under 53 yards per contest running the football, good for 1st in the nation.

Mack Brown has this team playing national championship caliber football. He’s got the highest scoring offense in the country at 41.8 ppg , a special teams that can put up points and a shut down defense. UCF is very capable of keeping this game within the 36 1/2 point spread, but they lack big game experience. They’ll have to do better than they did against Miami, their only other ranked opponent, where they managed only 7 points in a 7-27 loss.

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