Week 1: UCF vs South Carolina State 9/1/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The UCF Knights and South Carolina State Bulldogs do battle Thursday night in week 1 college football action from Bright House Networks Stadium. South Carolina managed to go 7-5 overall in 2021, earning an invite to the Celebration Bowl where they beat Jackson State. As for UCF, they posted a 9-4 overall run last year. The Knights ultimately beat Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl to finish off the season. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.

South Carolina State followed up an abbreviated 2020 season (3-1 overall) with a 7-5 overall effort last year. The Bulldogs did great in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, posting a 5-0 record and taking the championship by one game over North Carolina Central. 

The Bulldogs’ season started out rough, as the team lost four of their first five games. South Carolina State finished strong however, going 6-1 the rest of the way. On December 18 in the Celebration Bowl, the Bulldogs ended on a high note with a 31-10 win over Jackson State. 

Over on the UCF side, they did pretty well in 2021 considering the team had to contend with the likes of Cincinnati and Houston in the American Athletic Conference standings. The Knights ultimately went 9-4 overall with a 5-3 mark in AAC play—good enough for third place in the standings. 

UCF also started out on a rocky stretch in 2021, going 3-3 over their first six outings. The Knights went a nice 6-1 in the remaining games with a lone loss to SMU. UCF earned an invite to the Gasparilla Bowl on December 23, where they took out Florida 29-17. 

PICK: I’m probably leaning toward UCF in this one. I could probably go either way, though; this is looking like a really fun matchup despite the line. The key here may very well be the running game: UCF should have some solid run blocking this season, and with guys like Isaiah Bowser in the backfield they’ll dispense rush yards in chunks. 

South Carolina State should have the advantage when it comes to tamping down the Knights’ passing game, though. The Bulldogs boast a great defensive front and they’ll cause a lot of problems in the backfield. Still, if UCF can play the ball-control game here and rattle off some first downs by rushing I think they’ll be in line for a cover.