The biggest question heading into last weekend’s pivotal American Athletic Conference clash with Tulsa was whether Central Florida would actually show up.
It certainly didn’t in a 37-29 loss to Connecticut the week before, so the question was a reasonable one.
Luckily for Knights fans, UCF did indeed show up and scored an impressive 31-7 victory because of it. While Tulsa is far from an AAC title contender, you’ll take a 24-point win when you just came off of an inexcusable loss to a really bad team.
Justin Holman had an excellent night through the air in throwing for 291 yards and three touchdowns while the defense did its part by forcing three interceptions and holding Tulsa to just 72 yards passing.
So, yes, the Knights were able to get back on the right track as they continue their quest to keep pace with Memphis and Cincinnati in the battle for the AAC regular season title. But guess what? It’s time for another question:
Can they keep that momentum going against SMU?
You can stop laughing now. I know that SMU is far and away the worst team in all of college football, and a loss would make UCF the laughingstock of the nation.
However, the Mustangs have gotten better. After an absolutely miserable stretch from late August through October, SMU has put up a serious fight in its last two games. The Mustangs fell 38-28 at Tulsa before nearly earning their first victory of the season in heartbreaking 14-13 home loss to South Florida this past weekend.
Essentially, SMU is a team with nothing to lose. At 0-9 overall and 0-5 in the conference, there’s nowhere to go but up for head coach Tom Mason and company. Another loss means nothing in the grand scheme of things for the Mustangs.
But a win? That means something. That would be hard evidence of the gradual improvement of the team. A first win would mean everything, and another loss would mean nothing.
UCF, on the other hand, has everything to lose. A loss would all but officially end this team’s chances at winning the AAC championship, and ultimately, eliminate every bit of momentum that it got back in the win over Tulsa.
Still laughing? You shouldn’t be.
On paper, the Knights should completely crush SMU by five or six touchdowns. But in a setup where one team has everything to gain and one team has everything to lose, the pressure will always be on the latter.
It’s great and all to look ahead to the crucial remaining games at South Florida and East Carolina, however, those games hold little meaning if things go awry this week.
The Knights must handle the pressure and win this game convincingly. There simply is no other alternative.
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