Week 3 Prediction

Happy Friday everyone!  it's week 3 on the college football calendar and this week the Nittany Lions are taking on the Golden Knights of Central Florida.  There's all kinds of interesting story lines in this one.  UCF's head coach, George O'Leary, is Bill O'Brien's coaching mentor, having given him his first coaching position during their time back at Georgia Tech in the late 90s.  UCF is also Penn State's opponent for next year's Croke Park Classic in Dublin, Ireland.  This game will be the first night game of the season, and University officials are calling for a student section Whiteout.  Should be a good one, let's get to the break down!

The Good
Although Central Florida is arguably Penn State's toughest out-of-conference opponent this season, at the end of the day they still come from the American Athletic Conference (aka, the old Big East, aka, the older Conference USA).  No matter how well coached they are, there should theoretically be a sizable talent gap in Penn State's favor.  Also, as mentioned above, it's a night game in Beaver Stadium with the best student section in the country decked out in their Saturday whites.  The running game should maintain some momentum from last week's outstanding performance, Hackenberg should continue to grow in his role as the starting QB, and of course Allen Robinson is always good for at least one touchdown.  The defense is playing lights out right now and gets Mike Hull back in the rotation.  So things are looking good for a strong showing on both sides of the ball.

The Bad
Don't kid yourself, this Central Florida team is really good.  As I said, most people in the know are calling this Penn State's biggest challenge of the first 4 weeks.  Black Bortles is a seasoned starter at quarterback and a bonafide NFL prospect who threw for 3,000+ yards last year.  Even O'Brien appears impressed with this kid.  If PSU's young secondary isn't 100% ready come Saturday night, Bortles is going to pick them apart.  Additionally, the Golden Knights starting tailback Storm Johnson (awesome name!) is a scoring machine with 5 TDs in just 2 games.  On the other side, UCF's defense has only allowed 7 points so far this season and they like to play a very physical style of football that's capable of stopping PSU's trio of running backs dead in their tracks.  Now it should be pointed out that UCF's opponents so far have been Akron and Florida International... not exactly elite competition.  But don't write these guys off, they could pull the upset if the Lions don't come to play!

The Story
This is the game where Penn State's players are going to get a chance to really prove how good they are against a decent opponent.  Really, anything could happen.  Both QBs could go on a hot streak and we could see an old fashioned shootout.  Or both defenses could step up their game and we could see a low scoring slobberknocker.  Either way, it's going to be fun and there's absolutely nothing in this world that compares to night time at the Beav with a Whiteout on tap.  Also, with their history, expect a longer than normal handshake between these old coaching friends at midfield.

The Predication
Hackenberg gets off to a much faster start than he did the prior two weeks and ends another great game with 200+ yds and 2 TD strikes.  The running backs punch it in for 2 more and Sam Ficken adds onto his consecutive FG record.  The defense lets a few plays get by them but generally speaking, holds their own.  The secondary picks off Bortles for the first time in over 200 attempts to seal the victory.

PSU 34, UCF 20