North Carolina State Wolfpack (7-5) vs. Central Florida Knights (9-3) December 26, 8 PM ET, ESPN, Line: UCF -2, O/U 49.5
The North Carolina State Wolfpack will make their second trip to the Tampa Bay area this year to take on the UCF Knights in the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl.
Both teams finished on a high note in the regular season. UCF stunned East Carolina in Greenville with a Hail Mary to steal a 32-30 win and a share of the American Athletic Conference championship.
NC State went into Chapel Hill and throttled their in-state rival North Carolina 35-7. The win put the Wolfpack 2 games over .500 and puts them in the position to play a 9-3 co-conference champion.
While the Pack won’t be a Baylor-sized pelt like UCF nabbed last year in the Fiesta Bowl, a win over a Power Five team would be a nice way to close out 2014.
On the opposite side, NC State can go into UCF’s home state and get after a team with nine wins and a conference regular season title.
2014 St. Petersburg Bowl Preview: NC State vs. UCF
Both teams have momentum following big regular season finales, and both have something to play for. UCF can continue a string of stellar seasons, while State can tack on a bowl win to a promising sophomore campaign for head coach Dave Doeren.
Both played the South Florida Bulls this season in Tampa. NC State played one of their most impressive games of the year and destroyed USF 49-17. UCF shut out the Bulls 16-0. While the Knights didn’t show the offensive fireworks that NC State did against the Bulls, their defense showed up as they usually did this year.
The Knights defense comes in ranked number nine in points given up per game. They give up 17.9 per game but only score 28.2. Their lone perplexing game was their conference loss at Connecticut 37-29.
It was UConn’s highest output of the year and only their second win. UConn’s next highest output on the season was 21 (three times). UCF’s loss to the Huskies was the only oddity in an otherwise consistent season.
NC State’s consistent season contained a head scratcher too. The Wolfpack went into Clemson and got shutout 41-0. The odd part was on both sides of the ball. With State’s defense improving as the year went on, in hindsight it was a total collapse to let the Tigers run all over them.
UCF returned to the late season form they showed in a Fiesta Bowl upset of Baylor almost a year ago. The Knights won 9 of their last 10 games, and if not for the comatose performance in Connecticut they would have finished with two losses, one of which was to SEC East Champ Missouri in Columbia.
After dropping their first two games to Penn State (in Dublin, Ireland) and the aforementioned road game at Missouri, UCF bounced back and quietly got within double digit wins for the third consecutive season.
The consistency that both squads brought to the table will make this one tight. Both can be stingy on defense, but a little lax on offense. I wouldn’t look for a lot of points in this one. While the two previous games on this day will be points galore, this one will be physical and each score will matter. Get your kicker ready Pack and Knights. It might come down to a field goal.
I ranked this one at 15 points in my bowl pool with NC State coming out on top. I’ve switched it a few times already, and I’m sure I’ll switch it again before kickoff. If the Wolfpack can run the ball, they can win. If UCF stops that, it might be a long day in the Sunshine State for the Wolfpack.
Prediction: Take the under. NC State wins 23-17.
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Photo courtesy of St. Petersburg Bowl
