UCFACTS
• UCF opened American Athletic Conference play with a 41-19 victory against SMU last Wednesday and the Knights will host Temple in their annual Space Game on Thursday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from FBC Mortgage Stadium and the game will air live on ESPN. The first Student Handbook, from 1968-69, marked the first appearance of the Citronaut, a green astronaut with an orange for a body. Beloved by some and met with disapproval by others, the Citronaut never became an official mascot but it was an attempt to combine the two major themes of Central Florida: the citrus industry and the space program.
• UCF is one of only seven FBS teams to play five of their first six 2022 games in their home stadium. The Knights played South Carolina State and Louisville at home, went on the road to play FAU, followed by three straight home games versus Georgia Tech, SMU and Temple.
• The Knights defense has been stellar this season, as UCF leads the nation in red zone defense. Opponents have scored on just 47% of their trips to the red zone, converting on 9-of-19 attempts. The Knights have only allowed four touchdowns in the red zone in 19 trips for opponents.
• UCF is also among the top 15 nationally in scoring defense, limiting teams to just 14.6 points per game to rank 12th nationally. The Knights have not allowed a team to score more than 20 points in a game this season and have only allowed one touchdown in the fourth quarter.
• UCF’s nine points allowed in the fourth quarter are the second fewest of any FBS team in the nation, behind Illinois which has only allowed seven points in the fourth quarter.
• Following the first six weeks of the season, UCF is one of just three FBS teams (Ohio State and Oregon) to surpass 600 yards of total offense in more than one game this season. The Knights recorded a season-high 653 yards in the road win at Florida Atlantic and also tallied 605 yards in the season opener against South Carolina State.
• UCF’s 653 yards of total offense against Florida Atlantic are the most by a team in the AAC this season and the 11th most by an FBS team in a single game this season.
• UCF is averaging 252.6 rushing yards per game, which ranks fourth nationally and leads the AAC. Fifth-year running back Isaiah Bowser is seventh nationally with eight rushing touchdowns, which also leads the conference. Dating back to the bowl game last year, Bowser has at least one rushing touchdown in five of his last six games, scoring 10 total during that span.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
Overall: ___________UCF leads, 7-2 in Orlando: ______________
UCF leads, 3-1 in Philadelphia:___________
UCF leads, 4-1 Streak:______________ UCF won 5
Last meeting: UCF 49, Temple 7
__________Oct. 30, 2021 – Philadelphia Last UCF win: ___ UCF 49, Temple 7
_____________Oct. 30, 2021 – Philadelphia
Thursday’s game will be the 10th all-time meeting between the programs, as UCF owns a 7-2 advantage in the series headlined by winning the last five meetings. The Knights are 4-1 against the Owls at home and have won the last two home meetings, including a 52-40 victory in 2018 which was also played on a Thursday night.
In the last meeting, UCF compiled 428 yards of total offense with 229 yards passing and 199 rushing. Quarterback Mikey Keene was 15-for-21 passing with five touchdown passes in that game. Alec Holler and Ryan O’Keefe each reeled in a couple of receiving touchdowns to leads the Knights to the win.
THE OPPONENT
• Temple is in its first season under head coach Stan Drayton, after he spent the previous five seasons with the Texas Longhorns as the associate head coach and run game coordinator working with the running backs.
• The Owls are off to a 2-3 start to the season and an 0-1 start in conference play. In their last outing on Oct. 1, Temple was defeated on the road at Memphis, 24-3. Temple is coming off of its bye week.
• Temple has one of the best defenses in the country, allowing just 16.8 points per game to rank 20th nationally and third in the AAC. The Owls’ special teams units have been particularly good with the team blocking three kicks this season to tie for fifth among FBS teams.
LAST TIME OUT
ORLANDO – Thanks to a strong second half, the UCF football team opened American Athletic Conference play with a 41-19 win over SMU last Wednesday night at FBC Mortgage Stadium. Trailing 13-10 at halftime, the Knights outscored the Mustangs 31-6 in the second half with SMU scoring as time expired.
“First of all, I’m really proud of our team and the way we played, specifically in the second half,” said UCF head coach Gus Malzahn. “We’ve been talking all week about we’ve got to come out in the second half and play good football and we did that. We dominated the second half.
“We played our best football game, and I’m telling you hats off to SMU. They’re a really good team and Coach Lashlee is a great coach. We wish them nothing but the best moving forward.”
The game was a difference of two halves, as SMU compiled 287 yards of total offense to UCF’s 145 to take a three-point lead into the intermission. It was a different story in the second half; however, as the Knights came out of the locker room and dominated for the remainder of the game.
UCF recorded 204 yards of offense in the third quarter, passing for 148 yards and rushing for 56 yards. The Knights’ defense was stellar in the quarter, shutting out SMU and limiting the Mustangs to just 83 yards. SMU was 0-for-3 on third-down conversions and 0-for-2 fourth-down conversions in the third quarter.
