Furman @ Central Florida preview

After an 0-2 start to the season, UCF looks to get things turned around as it hosts Furman on Saturday. The Knights lost a heartbreaker at home to Florida International to open the season and dropped its second in a row on the road last time out, handled 31-7 by Stanford.

Coach George O'Leary isn't showing any panic, and is quick to remind his team - and any naysayers - of a similar start a year ago. "I brought it up last night in the team meeting," O'Leary told the team web site. "I said, 'Anybody know the record last year at this time?' It was 0-2." The Knights went on to win the American Athletic Conference championship and are using that as motivation as they move forward. "We were 0-2 last year and we came out and won a conference championship," linebacker Domenic Spencer told reporters. "We continue to do what we do and that's work hard here."

TV: 6 p.m. ET, ESPN3. LINE: No Line.

ABOUT FURMAN (0-2): The Paladins have lost 11 of their last 14 games dating back to 2014. Quarterback Reese Hannon leads the offense for Furman and will look to mirror his performance in the season opener against Coastal Carolina, when he totaled a school-record 365 passing yards along with two touchdowns. All-Southern Conference linebacker Cory Magwood paces the Paladins on defense, managing 20 tackles in two games this year after leading the conference with 123 a year ago.

ABOUT UCF (0-2): With quarterback Justin Holman out 2-4 weeks with an injured right hand, freshmen Bo Schneider is expected to start against Furman. Schneider completed 7-of-19 attempts for 46 yards and interception in relief of Holman against Stanford but teammates are ready to rally around their new signal-caller. "Our job as receivers (is) to catch the ball, first and foremost," receiver Nick Patti told the Orlando Sentinel. "Whoever is out there, we gotta help them out."

EXTRA POINTS

1. UCF is 20-0 against FCS teams since joining the FBS in 1996.

2. Furman has just one win - a 1999 triumph over North Carolina - in 25 games against FBS opponents dating back to 1987.

3. Knights C Joey Grant announced that he has decided to move on from football after a series of shoulder injuries.

PREDICTION: UCF 27, Furman 13