East Carolina @ UCF preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 1, 2016 ) Central Florida 47, East Carolina 29

The proverbial rock faces the very movable object Saturday when the high-octane offense of Central Florida hosts struggling East Carolina in an American Athletic Conference game. The No. 21 Knights lead the nation in scoring offense at 47.5 points per game while the Pirates have allowed at least 34 points in every contest this season.

Behind sophomore quarterback McKenzie Milton, UCF utilizes a balanced attack that is averaging 533 yards per game, good for eighth in the nation. The Knights have chewed up an average of 222 yards on the ground while Milton averages 291 yards passing with 13 touchdowns. Those numbers figure to have a chance to rise even more against East Carolina, one of the worst teams statistically in the nation. Out of the 129 teams in FBS, the Pirates rank last in scoring defense (47.8 points per game) and total defense (599.5 yards allowed).

TV: 7 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network. LINE: UCF -35

ABOUT CENTRAL FLORIDA (4-0, 2-0 AAC): The Knights' passing game is among the best in the nation with Milton second in the country in pass efficiency (203.7), and the sophomore likes to spread the ball around with no player accounting for more than 15 receptions. One of those targets is senior wide out Tre'Quan Smith, who has accounted for seven touchdowns among his 15 catches this season, second-most for TD receptions in the country. Smith had three TDs on five receptions in last week's 51-23 weather-shortened victory at Cincinnati.

ABOUT EAST CAROLINA (1-5, 1-2): The Pirates have little trouble moving the ball on offense and boast a trio of receivers who are among the best in the nation. East Carolina is one of only four FBS schools with three active receivers with at least 100 career receptions. Davon Grayson (107), Jimmy Williams (105) and Quay Johnson (104) all enter the weekend with more than 100 catches. The Pirates also have three active receivers with more than 1,000 yards - Williams (1,569), Grayson (1,416) and Trevon Brown (1,144).

EXTRA POINTS

1. East Carolina graduate transfer Thomas Sirk has 18 career rushing touchdowns, tied for eighth-most among active quarterbacks.
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2. UCF, already off to the best start in FBS program history, is seeking its first 5-0 start since 1988 when it was a Division II program.

3. The Knights, who will wear special commemorative space program uniforms this weekend, are coming off back-to-back 500-yard games for the first time since 2002.

PREDICTION: UCF 55, East Carolina 27