East Carolina vs. UCF Spread Prediction
After pulling off an impressive come-from-behind victory a week ago versus Memphis, can the UCF Knights get back up this week for a night game at East Carolina? Or are the Pirates a good bet to cover as a large home underdog?
Game Snapshot
315 UCF Knights vs. 316 East Carolina Pirates
7:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, October 20, 2018
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, North Carolina
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Knights are 21.5-point favorites to beat the Pirates. The total, meanwhile, sits at 65.5 points. As of this writing, 68% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Knights.
UCF Knights
UCF sophomore WR Gabriel Davis racked up six receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s 31-30 win at Memphis. Davis had an outstanding 75-yard catch and run early in the second quarter, his longest play of the season. It was also the second-longest play of his career since he had an 80-yard score, also early in the second quarter, in a win at SMU back on Nov. 4, 2017. The Knights have the longest winning streak in FBS at 19 games, and young players like Davis might mean the winning ways continue for a while. Next up is a trip to East Carolina next Saturday.
East Carolina Pirates
ECU freshman QB Holton Ahlers is listed as the starting quarterback for this weekend’s game against UCF. It will be his first career start. The Pirates are pulling the plug on sophomore QB Reid Herring, who started the first six games of the year. The offense was stagnant under his watch. All three of ECU’s touchdowns over three games of AAC play have come when Ahlers was on the field. Ahlers, a highly-touted local product, signed with ECU over offers from NC State, Florida and Georgia. He will not have to look over his shoulder when he takes the field on Saturday. “He doesn’t have a leash. I’ve taken the leash off,” HC Scottie Montgomery said. “He’s going to get to play as long and as hard as he can.” The 6-foot-3, 236-pound Ahlers has mostly been used as a sub-package rusher so far. He leads ECU with 248 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.
Betting Trends
UCF
The Knights are 4-1 against the spread in their last five games versus the Pirates.
East Carolina
The Pirates are 3-9-1 against the spread in their last 13 home games.
Prediction
The Knights rallied down 30-17 at halftime last week against Memphis and I just don’t see them getting up for the Pirates tonight. They’re going to win, they’ll remain unbeaten by the end of the day, but I like ECU to cover. The Knights were outgained last week by the Tigers and the Pirates can get after the quarterback, ranking No. 2 in the nation with 4.0 sacks per game.
College Football Prediction: East Carolina Pirates +21.5