Central Florida Knights vs East Carolina Pirates Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 10/22/2022

Game Time: 7:30 pm ET, Saturday, October 22, 2022

Venue:  Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC

Where to Watch:  ESPNU

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  UCF -5, ECU +5; Over/Under:  65.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  UCF -5, ECU +5; Over/Under:  65 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  UCF -5, ECU +5; Over/Under:  65.5 points

 

Central Florida Knights:  5-1 (2-0) (2nd place, AAC)

East Carolina Pirates:  4-3 (2-2) (5th place, AAC)

 

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Central Florida Knights:  won their last game at home against the Temple Owls 70-13.

East Carolina Pirates:  won their last game at home against the Memphis Tigers 47-45 in overtime.

 

UCF is entering this game with a 5-1 record overall to start their college football season and they will be playing their 2nd road game of the season here as they are 1-0 in their road games this year. This will also be their 3rd conference game of the college football season this year as they are 2-0. They won against the Temple Owls in their last game at home 70-13. John Rhys Plumlee started that game at QB and he completed 18/22 passes for 373 yards and 4 touchdowns. Thomas Castellanos led the team in rushing with 88 yards and 1 TD on 3 rushing attempts. Kobe Hudson led the team in receiving with 121 yards and 2 TDs on 4 receptions while Ryan O'Keefe had 111 receiving yards and 2 TDs on 7 catches. Jason Johnson led the defense in that game with 5 solo tackles and 4 assisted tackles. No one on the defense recorded a sack for them and no one on the defense came away with an interception in that one.

 

 

 

ECU is entering this game with a 2-2 record overall to start their college football season and they will be playing their 6th home game of the season as they are 3-2 in their home games this year. This will also be the 5th conference matchup on their conference schedule this season as they are 2-2. They won against the Memphis Tigers in their last game at home 47-45 in OT. Holton Ahlers started that game at QB and he completed 26/34 passes for 304 yards and touchdown. Keaton Mitchell led the team in rushing with 149 yards and 3 TDs on 29 carries. Isaiah Winstead led the team in receiving with 154 yards and 1 TD on 9 receptions. Julius Wood each led the defense in that game with 6 solo tackles and 5 assisted tackles. Shaundre Mims, Jack Powers, Jeremy Lewis, and Elijah Morris each led the defense in sacks with 1 while Julius Wood and Malik Fleming each came away with 1 interception for them in that one.

The current betting odds have UCF listed as a 5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. UCF just had a huge blowout win over Temple in their last game, Temple is not a very good team but that is still a very impressive win to drop 70 points on them like that. ECU is also coming off a win in OT against Memphis and they dropped 47 points in that game, but ECU has also had some questionable losses in the conference and their offense normally doesn't score that many points. Memphis doesn't have a great defense either so putting up that many points isn't that hard when they had blown a lead very late the previous game. UCF is starting to roll again with their offense and they are only going to get better as they find their groove. ECU plays well at home but they are going to struggle to keep up with their offense in this game and UCF will be able to pull away because of it. The best way to place a bet here is on UCF to cover the spread in this game.

 

Central Florida East Carolina Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, October 22, 2022 (7:30 pm ET start time) is UCF 42 ECU 21.

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Central Florida Knights: 4-10 ATS as a road favorite of 3.5 to 7 points. 6-12 ATS against conference opponents. 9-2 OVER in road games.

East Carolina Pirates: 5-1 ATS off a home win. 12-7 ATS in games played on a grass field. 18-11 OVER in a home game where the total is greater than or equal to 63. 

 

 

Central Florida Knights:  A. Johnson (WR) Out indefinitely - Leg. J. Davis (TE) Out indefinitely - Undisclosed.

East Carolina Pirates:  R. Harris (RB) out for season - Knee.

 

 

“The offense is starting to get into rhythm. It’s all coming together. We have a chance to be a really good offense.” - Gus Malzahn on his team coming into this game against ECU.

 

 

"I've seen too much of him already. He played baseball and football at Ole Miss. He was the starting quarterback there and lost out in that competition and transferred to UCF. He's a big kid, probably 6-1, 200 pounds 4.4 or 4.5 speed. He has breakaway speed and does a really good job in the quarterback run game. When your quarterback is also your leading rusher and you're not running the triple option, that says something about his ability to run the football. He has over 500 yards gained in rushing this year, he's thrown for 1,500 yards and he doesn't turn the ball over. You put him with some of those skill kids that UCF has, and it just makes it a very dangerous offense. You look at the game against Temple last week and it's 14-13 with five minutes to go in the first half. UCF scores the next 56 points, 21 before halftime, and Temple didn't turn the ball over. They didn't turn the ball over, didn't get a kick blocked and UCF didn't return a punt or a kickoff for a touchdown. That's how explosive UCF's offense is with Plumlee and his surrounding cast there. It's probably our biggest challenge of the year so far." - Mike Houston on his team’s upcoming game against UCF here.

 

 

 

WR Baker, Javon 

WR O'Keefe, Ryan 

WR Hudson, Kobe 

TE Holler, Alec

QB Plumlee, John Rhys

RB Bowser, Isaiah 

 

WR Winstead, Isaiah

WR Johnson, Jaylen

WR Johnson, C.J. 

TE Calhoun, Shane

QB Ahlers, Holton 

RB Mitchell, Keaton 

 

 

Passing: J. Plumlee (1516)

Rushing: J. Plumlee (454)

Receiving: J. Baker (403)

Touchdowns: I. Bowser (9)

 

Passing: H. Ahlers (2124)

Rushing: K. Mitchell (582)

Receiving: I. Winstead (719)

Touchdowns: C. Johnson (7)

 

Coaches:

Central Florida Knights: Gus Malzahn (2nd season)

East Carolina Pirates: Mike Houston (4th season)