College Football 2021: 5 bold predictions for Week 5

We’re nearly halfway through the college football season, but we’re just getting started with conference play. There are lots of intriguing storylines, including whether or not Arkansas will be able to keep up their incredible play. We’ve got predictions on how UCF looks after losing their starting backfield to injuries and a handful of teams that should be on upset alert this week.

With that, let’s get into our first bold prediction for Week 5 of the 2021 college football season.

5. UCF looks fine, despite losing Dillon Gabriel, Isaiah Bowser

The Big 12-bound Knights are playing their first game since losing starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel to a broken clavicle and starting running back Isaiah Bowser to a knee injury. Freshman Mikey Keene has been named the starter for UCF in this week’s game against conference foe Navy.

Expect Keene to be well-prepared and ready to hit the ground running against Navy. Head Coach Gus Malzahn told reporters that he’s had his QB2 taking equal reps with the starters since fall camp.

“He’s gotten almost equal reps,” the coach said of Keene, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “Early in fall camp, early in the season, you want to give your 2′s a lot of reps and we’ve done that. That’s really beneficial now.”

Keenne saw some game action earlier in the season against Bethune-Cookman, going 4 for 7 for 55 yards and a touchdown.

Running backs Trillon Coles and Johnny Richardson each have rushed for more than 100 yards each this season and will be ready to fill the void left by the injured Isaiah Bowser.

Game info: UCF Knights travel to Annapolis, Md., to take on Navy on Oct. 2 at 3:30 p.m. EST on CBSSN