The UCF Knights (5-2) will host the 20th-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats (6-1) on Saturday in an American Athletic Conference matchup. Cincinnati is 3-0 in the conference this season, and UCF is 2-1.
Last season these teams met in Cincinnati, and the Bearcats won 56-21 as a 21.5-point favorite.
Coming off a historic season, Cincinnati lost significant talent to the NFL and dropped their season-opening game 31-24 to then No. 19 ranked Arkansas. Since the opening loss, Cincinnati has won six straight games but has only faced the 96th-rated schedule according to Power Rankings Guru.
Last Saturday, Cincinnati led SMU 29-13, entering the fourth quarter. After SMU scored touchdowns with 5:09 and 1:57 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Bearcats lead was cut to 29-27, but SMU failed to tie the game on a two-point conversion attempt. The Bearcats outgained the Mustangs 379 to 259 in total yardage and won the turnover battle 1 to 0. SMU hung around despite the yardage disparity with the help of converting on 4 of 5 first downs and only committing three pena lties for 30 yards, while Cincinnati committed 14 penalties for 128 yards.
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— Cincinnati Football (@GoBearcatsFB) October 25, 2022
The Bearcats are 24th in the nation scoring 36.9 ppg, 41st picking up 267.4 yards passing per game, and 61st racking up 160 rushing yards per game. Quarterback Ben Bryant has completed 63.6% of his passes and has 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. On defense, the Bearcats are 17th allowing just 305.4 yards per game and 39th holding teams to 22 ppg.