[8:00 PM] Tulsa @ UCF

Who will WIN this matchup?

Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-3)

@ UCF Knights (6-4)

• The line for this game is UCF by 1.5 points.

• One year after going 0-12, Central Florida has earned a bowl bid and remains in the race for the American Athletic Conference title. The Knights put their much-improved defense to the test when they host Tulsa and its eighth-ranked offense Saturday.

• Evans has eclipsed 300 yards 14 times in his career including last week, when he completed 16-of-27 passes for 369 yards with four touchdowns. He also had a 1-yard touchdown run that pulled the Golden Hurricane to within 38-37 with 10:34 left but Navy’s ground game piled up 390 yards and was unstoppable throughout. Tulsa got 100-yard receiving games from Justin Hobbs and Josh Atkinson last game a perfect complement to top threat Keevan Lucas, who has 62 receptions for 920 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season.

• Most believed that when Scott Frost left Oregon as its offensive coordinator to take over as coach at UCF, the Knights would become another high-scoring, one-dimensional unit. Its’s been anything but the case as UCF is second in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 20.6 points per game buoyed by last week’s 24-3 thrashing over Cincinnati. Freshman running back Jawon Hamilton provided a big spark against the Bearcats, rushing for a season-high 81 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown last week for the Knights, who rank 106th in the nation in total offense and will undoubtedly have to score to stay with the fast-paced Golden Hurricane’s offense.

• Most believed that when Scott Frost left Oregon as its offensive coordinator to take over as coach at UCF, the Knights would become another high-scoring, one-dimensional unit. Its’s been anything but the case as UCF is second in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 20.6 points per game buoyed by last week’s 24-3 thrashing over Cincinnati. Freshman running back Jawon Hamilton provided a big spark against the Bearcats, rushing for a season-high 81 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown last week for the Knights, who rank 106th in the nation in total offense and will undoubtedly have to score to stay with the fast-paced Golden Hurricane’s offense.

• Tulsa’s two AAC losses have been marred by apparent officiating blunders, the first against Houston when the Cougars should have penalized for too many on the field and last week, when a Tulsa defender wrestled a ball away from the Navy running back but the play was whistled dead.

• With its six wins, UCF leads the nation in biggest turnaround from last season.

• Tulsa is ranked 32nd in the nation in passing offense and has the fourth-most first downs.

StreakSmarts Pick: UCF Knights

Confidence: 4/10