Texas Christian at UCF
ORLANDO (Interstat) — Texas Christian will visit UCF on Saturday for an NCAA Football Bowl Division game at Acrisure Bounce House in Orlando, Fla. The Horned Frogs are the visiting team, and the Knights are the home team. Both programs enter with 2-1 records. The forecast for game time is 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
Texas Christian opened its season with a 15-10 home loss to North Carolina, then defeated Grambling 63-7 before beating Arkansas State 31-7 in its most recent game. Against Arkansas State, quarterback Jaden Craig completed 21 of 29 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns and ran seven times for 20 yards. Jeremy Payne rushed 24 times for 86 yards, caught two passes for 9 yards and scored one touchdown. Joe Pitchford ran seven times for 26 yards and added one reception for 3 yards. Craig is the Texas Christian player to watch.
UCF lost at Pittsburgh 12-7 before defeating Bethune-Cookman 73-6, then beat Georgia State 44-30 in its most recent outing. In that win, quarterback Keyone Jenkins completed 7 of 17 passes for 86 yards and one touchdown and rushed eight times for 25 yards and two touchdowns. Duke Watson ran 14 times for 177 yards, caught one pass for minus-1 yard and scored two touchdowns. Landen Chambers added nine rushes for 62 yards. Jenkins is the UCF player to watch.
The game matches two teams seeking a third win. Texas Christian will rely on Craig and a rushing attack that includes Payne and Pitchford. UCF will counter with Jenkins and a backfield that features Watson and Chambers. The Knights will host the Horned Frogs at Acrisure Bounce House, where the weather is expected to be mild. Texas Christian’s other results this season include a 63-7 win over Grambling and a 15-10 loss to North Carolina. UCF’s other results include a 73-6 win over Bethune-Cookman and a 12-7 loss at Pittsburgh.
Texas Christian’s upcoming schedule includes BYU at home, a trip to Baylor, home games against West Virginia, Kansas, Kansas State and Utah, and road games at Arizona and Texas Tech. UCF’s upcoming schedule includes trips to Houston, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Colorado, plus home games against BYU, Baylor, Arizona State and Iowa State.
Interstat’s game simulator is projecting a final score of UCF 36, Texas Christian 27. Interstat’s ELO system is projecting Texas Christian with a 78 percent probability to win. UCF has been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -3. The over/under for this game is 48.5.