Tulsa at Central Florida Spread
Written by Jack Jones - Google +
The Central Florida Knights host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane Thursday night in Conference USA action. UCF is the defending conference champion, and Tulsa is looking to take that title in 2011. The Golden Hurricane are tied for first place in the C-USA West division, while the Knights are sitting in fourth in the East. This will be the first meeting between these teams since a 49-19 home victory by Tulsa in 2008.
Odds makers in Las Vegas have set a line of UCF -1.5 over Tulsa with a total of 48.5 points.
Central Florida
There’s no question that the Knights have underachieved this season after winning Conference USA in 2010. They still have a chance to right the ship, but they cannot afford a loss to Tulsa on Thursday. The good news for this team is that they are 4-0 at home compared to 0-4 on the road. The Knights are outscoring opponents 37.2 to 2.2 at home this season, and they have two shutouts. While the competition hasn’t been the greatest, those are still impressive numbers nonetheless.
Central Florida (4-4, 2-2 C-USA) is coming off a 41-0 victory over the lowly Memphis Tigers. They outgained the Tigers 505-134 for the game and held a 28-6 edge in first downs. Quarterback Jeff Godfrey went 14 of 17 passing for 200 yards and one touchdown. He also led the team in rushing with 97 yards and a score. Receiver Quincy McDuffie caught a touchdown pass from Godrey while also rushing for another one.
UCF ranks 3rd in the country in total defense (245.4 yards/game). They have been excellent against the run (84.5 yards/game) and the pass (160.9 yards/game). The Knights also rank 43rd in total offense (420.4 yards/game). Godfrey is completing 68.3 percent of his passes for 1,451 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Brynn Harvey leads the team in rushing with 544 yards and three touchdowns, while Godfrey is second with 338 yards and nine scores. UCF likes to spread the ball around to their receivers as eight different players have double-digit receptions, and four have 21 catches or more apiece.
Tulsa
The Golden Hurricane have been very impressive all season. Tulsa (5-3, 4-0 C-USA) has reeled off four straight victories, and all five of their wins this season have come by 17 points or more. Their only three losses came to teams ranked inside the Top 8 in then-No. 1 Oklahoma, then-No. 8 Oklahoma State and then-No. 4 Boise State. They are coming off an impressive 38-7 home victory over a quality SMU squad.
Tulsa outgained the Mustangs 451-265 and forced five turnovers. Milton Howell had three first-half interceptions and Alex Singleton rushed for three short-yardage touchdowns. After catching nine balls for 160 yards the previous week against Rice, Willie Carter set new career highs with 13 receptions for 173 yards and a touchdown. Over half of quarterback G.J. Kinne’s 24 completions went to Carter, so UCF will certainly be looking to key in on him Thursday.
The Golden Hurricane rank 32nd in the FBS in total offense (435.0 yards/game). They feature a balanced attack with 182.9 yards/game on the ground and 252.1 yards/game through the air. Tulsa is just 82nd in total defense (410.9 yards/game), but a lot of that can be attributed to facing such a brutal schedule. Kinne is completing 64.3 percent of his passes for 1,895 yards with 16 touchdowns to eight interceptions. Ja’Terian Douglas and Trey Watts have combined for 1,030 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Carter leads all receivers with 49 receptions for 702 yards and five scores.
Betting Trends
Tulsa is 8-1 ATS in their last 9 road games, and 9-2 ATS in their last 11 conference games.
UCF is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games, and 15-6 ATS in their last 21 conference games.
The favorite is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings in this series.
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