Pittsburgh @ UCF preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 13, 2006 ) Pittsburgh 52, Central Florida 7

Central Florida’s high-octane offense looks to continue its impressive production in the last game before American Athletic Conference play when ACC member Pittsburgh pays a visit on Saturday afternoon. The 14th-ranked Knights averaged 50 points in their first three games while extending a nation-best winning streak to 16, and face the only Power Five conference team left on the schedule.

“They’re thick, strong and physical up front,” UCF coach Josh Heupel told reporters of Pitt. “Extremely big. The biggest defensive front we’ve seen so far. On the backend, they’re going to contest things. They’ll load it up and make it difficult to run the football.” The Knights had their contest with North Carolina - the only other game against a Power Five team on the original schedule - cancelled due to Hurricane Florence, which makes this game even more important, while the Panthers need a boost after a tough conference loss. Pittsburgh won its ACC opener against Georgia Tech 24-19 before suffering a 38-35 loss at North Carolina last weekend, a game in which the Panthers allowed 313 yards through the air, and will face a UCF team that averages 304 yards passing. Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi told reporters his team will have to be alert with how quickly the Knights work on offense: "These guys," Narduzzi said, "they limit you to really doing much pressure-wise because you don't have time to even communicate."

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU. LINE: UCF -13.5

ABOUT PITTSBURGH (2-2): The Panthers are led by two senior running backs in Qadree Ollison (355 yards, four TDs) and Darrin Hall (163, two TDs) while sophomore quarterback Kenny Pickett has not produced much through the air. Pickett has thrown for 145 yards per game with four scores and three interceptions while sophomore Taysir Mack (10 catches, 224 yards) and senior Rafael Araujo-Lopes (11, 103, two TDs) are the top two targets. Senior linebacker Quintin Wirginis tops the Panthers with 28 tackles and two sacks for the Panthers, who gave up 36 points per game over the last three outings and almost 400 yards per contest overall.

ABOUT CENTRAL FLORIDA (3-0): Junior quarterback McKenzie Milton rebounded with a strong effort (306 yards passing, three TDs) in the 56-36 win over Florida Atlantic last week after throwing three interceptions in the previous contest. Milton boasts 895 yards passing with nine scoring strikes - three to sophomore Gabriel Davis (20 catches, 242 yards) - and has rushed for three TDs along with 147 yards, second only to junior Adrian Killins Jr. (193, three TDs). The Knights have forced nine turnovers, including seven interceptions, while led by sophomore defensive back Richie Grant and senior linebacker Pat Jasinski with 26 tackles each.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Milton has 56 touchdown passes, tied with Blake Bortles for fourth in school history, and needs 85 yards for 7,000 passing.

2. Pittsburgh, which won the only other meeting 52-7 in 2006, is 5-1 playing road games in the state of Florida since 2008.

3. UCF’s offensive line has allowed just one sack and leads the country with 1.67 tackles for loss against per contest.

PREDICTION: Central Florida 38, Pittsburgh 21