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YTD 0-1
Boise St 
Everything was going well until……the 4th quarter. Thats what happens when you don't convert on early opportunities...
This Morning:
Central Florida is coming off an amazing year where they went 12-1 and won the Fiesta Bowl crushing Baylor. Now this year they lose stud QB Blake Bortles, RB Storm Johnson and several players from the great offensive line they had last year. Pete DiNovo gets the nod this year at QB a 3 star RS Fr recruit who broke Shaun King's county record in HS and is a gamer. He'll have a full stable of Wide Receivers to throw to that return from last year. Offensively UCF has playmakers the question is will DiNovo have time to get them the ball. The line does have 2 year starting tackle Torian Wilson and Joey Grant returning but else where there is just a lot of potential with a bunch of 3 star recruits breaking in. Defensively is where UCF will thrive this year, this is a very experienced unit that ranked 38th a year ago and just on experience alone I expect them to crack the top 30. The secondary of UCF is borderline elite so passing on these guys will be TOUGH!
Penn St. opens the James Franklin era today. Franklin more than proved himself down in Vandy. Making a very tough situation into as successful as he could make it being in the SEC. Franklin is a micro manager and a PA guy that brings a ton of fire and intensity to the program. Sophomore Christian Hackenburg who was the bluest of Blue Chip QB's had an up and down Freshman season he had games where he looked great such as against Wisconsin and he had games where he looked horrible not able to hit the backside of the barn like games against Kent St, Ohio St and Nebraska. Hackenburg surely will be better but he will have to do it without his lone playmaker from last year Allen Robinson who is now with the Jags and The Oline is very thin for the Lions breaking in 4 new starters. While Hackenburg will be improved he will have to be extra special this year having to deal with all the deficiencies on offense. Defensively the Lions front seven will be great. They were very good last year and they return a whole lot of that this year. The question mark on this unit will be the secondary that proved to be a bit shaky last year. Perhaps with the return of experienced players they will play better this year. If the secondary comes through Penn St could have a very tough D this year. They will need it because offensively I see the Lions struggling out of the gate with a lack of playmakers.
Game Prediction:
A lot of people are putting a lot of emphasis on the fact that Bortles and Storm Johnson are gone therefore the Knights will regress significantly this year however I don't see it. While Bortles was good it wasn't just him that made this team go. I really feel that this kid DiNardo can step in and make things happen. The Wide Outs of UCF are very talented and against a somewhat suspect Penn St secondary they should find room to get open quick. On the other side of the ball I see Penn St struggling a bit to get things going against a tough and experienced UCF defense. Hackenburg isn't Peyton Manning to do it himself. UCF last year beat Baylor, Louisville and this same Penn St team. O'Leary always has his team ready to play in the big games. In my opinion the more experienced and stable overall team UCF will come out with a W in Ireland today.
Central Florida -2
Here's a little article about UCF QB DiNardo in the Orlando Sentinel…..
https://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-08-15/sports/os-ucf-football-pete-dinovo-0816-20140815_1_blake-bortles-tyler-gabbert-justin-holman
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