Where: Acrisure Bounce House Stadium
When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
TV: Fox
Weather: 87 degrees with a 15% chance of precipitation
Latest line: UCF by 6.5 points
Coaches: Scott Frost, 3rd season at UCF, 21-7 (37-38 overall); Bill Belichick, 1st season at North Carolina, 2-1 (2-1 overall).
Quick slant: This is the first meeting between the two programs, although UNC was supposed to play UCF twice previously. A 2018 meeting in Chapel Hill was canceled due to Hurricane Florence and a 2020 game in Orlando was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. … UCF has won 15 straight games under Frost, going back to the 2017 season.
About UCF (2-0, 0-0 Big 12): The Knights are fresh off a bye week following an impressive 68-7 win over North Carolina A&T on Sept. 6. Running back Jaden Nixon opened the game with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and added a pair of touchdown runs (87 yards, 66 yards) in the victory. He finished with a career-high 252 all-purpose yards.
About North Carolina (2-1, 0-0 ACC): The Tar Heels jumped out to a 20-0 lead over Richmond on Saturday before cruising to a 41-6 win over the Spiders. Quarterback Gio Lopez tossed two touchdown passes and ran for another to power UNC to its second consecutive win. North Carolina scored 41 points despite having the ball for only 22 minutes.
3 things to watch
1. UCF’s Cam Fancher returned to practice this week, which may allow him to start in the upcoming game. The redshirt senior played 27 snaps before getting injured in the season opener against Jacksonville State. Tayven Jackson took over and helped the Knights win against the Gamecocks and North Carolina A&T. If Fancher is unable to play, Jackson will likely start again.
2. UNC quarterback Gino Lopez is completing just 44% (7 of 16) of his passes when pressured this season and has been sacked four times. The Knights have pressured quarterbacks 23 times through the first two games, registering five sacks and 12 hurries.
3. Against N.C. A&T, UCF scored a touchdown on offense, defense and special teams for the first time since doing so against Austin Peay on Oct. 28, 2017. The Knights accomplished all three in the first quarter. The last time UCF scored on all three facets in a quarter was against East Carolina on Oct. 1, 2016.
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/09/18/ucf-knights-vs-north-carolina-tv-info-betting-odds-keys/
