UCF Football: Preview, prediction, live stream vs. South Carolina State

UCF football had a strong opening performance and the Knights will be looking to keep their lengthy win streak alive against South Carolina State.

All aboard the McKenzie Milton Heisman hype train. If you’re not on board now, don’t come calling when it comes time to vote in December and he’s leading the way.

All jokes aside, Milton had a tremendous season opener against UConn, but who doesn’t look like a Heisman front-runner against the Huskies these days. It’s been a while since Connecticut contended for anything on the gridiron. Still, Milton finished 24-for-32 through the air with 346 yards and five touchdowns.

As if that wasn’t impressive enough, the run game finished with nearly 300 yards against the Huskies as Milton added 50 on seven carries. Seven different players rushed for over 20 yards, showing the depth on this team and weaponry on offense.

There’s still plenty of work to do on defense as the Knights allowed 486 yards to the Huskies, but South Carolina State should be a nice confidence-booster to that unit.

Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s UCF vs. South Carolina State game:

Date: Saturday, Sept. 8
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
Location: Orlando, Fla.
Venue: Spectrum Stadium
TV: ESPN 3
Live Stream: WatchESPN or FuboTV

Keys to Victory

Since the offense will continue to dominate like it did against Connecticut, I’m going to make the biggest key here a defensive-themed one. Central Florida must shut down the big play. Allowing almost 500 yards to Connecticut was flat-out unacceptable and that kind of porous defense could lead to an unthinkable upset. Clean up the defensive mistakes, shut down the passing game and the Knights will be just fine in Week 2.

South Carolina State must find a way to get pressure on Milton, force him into some poor throws and collapse the pocket on him. He can still run with the ball, but as long as there’s a spy on him, the defense will have done its job. If the Bulldogs want to even imagine an upset, it’s all dependent on if they can slow down Milton.

Betting Odds

Line: N/A
Over/under: N/A

Prediction

Just like everyone is expecting, the win streak will continue. Central Florida will control this one from start to finish and the defense will even step up, adding a touchdown of its own and holding South Carolina State to under 200 total yards. This one will be over before halftime thanks to another stellar performance from Milton — shocker, right? — and Tre Nixon.

Final Score: South Carolina State 7, UCF 63