The no. 11/12 UCF football team (2-0, 1-0) is set for its home opener this weekend. The Knights will host Tulsa (0-1, 0-0) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with coverage from the Bounce House on ESPN2 and FM 96.9 The Game.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Oct. 3
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Live Stats: click here
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE GAME NOTES - UCF VS TULSA
A UCF WIN WOULD...
• Be better than a loss
• Mark the Knights' fifth straight win in a home opener
• Give UCF 38 wins in its last 42 games
• Snap Tulsa's three-game winning streak over UCF
• Give UCF a 4-3 advantage over Tulsa in games played in Orlando.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
| Overall | Tulsa, 8-3 |
| in Tulsa | Tulsa, 5-0 |
| in Orlando | Tied, 3-3 |
| at Neutral Location | -- |
| Last Meeting | Tulsa 34, UCF 31 - Nov. 8, 2019 |
| Streak | Tulsa won 3 |
ABOUT THE GOLDEN HURRICANE
• Tulsa is in its sixth season with head coach Philip Montombery at the helm and have amassed a record of 25-38 under Montgomery.
• Last season the Golden Hurricane went just 4-8 overall and 2-6 in American Athletic Conference play, but one of those victories was a home win over UCF late in the year.
• Tulsa opened up the season on the road, falling at Oklahoma State, 16-7, and then had its second scheduled game - against Arkansas State - postponed.
• Tulsa quarterback Zach Smith went 18-for-28 with 165 yards, one TD and one pick against Okla. State.
ORLANDO'S HOMETOWN TEAM NOTE
national exposure
• UCF ranks among the national leaders in national television appearances by its football squad over the previous two seasons.
• In 2018 and 2019 combined, the Knights appeared 18 times on either ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, ranking tied for 11th nationally in that category.
• UCF has appeared on ABC in each of its first two games of the 2020 season and will be on ESPN2 this week, adding three more national tv appearances to its resume.
UCFAST NOTE
dillon dazzles
• Sophomore quarterback Dillon Gabriel was one of the best freshmen in the nation in 2019, throwing for 3,653 yards, a UCF freshman record and the fourth most in school history.
• He has looked even better in the first two game of 2020, earning multiple national player of the week awards after the win at Georgia Tech and having an even better outing at ECU.
• Gabriel is the first Knight to throw for 400 or more yards in back-to-back games and the first to throw four touchdown passes in back-to-back games since McKenzie Milton in 2017.
• He has thrown at least one touchdown in every game of his career, with his streak of 15 consecutive games ranking as the fourth longest in program history.
• Gabriel set a new UCF record this Saturday with 18 consecutive completions, besting Milton (2017) and Daunte Culpepper (1997), who both held the previous record of 15.
• The sophomore ranks second in the nation with eight touchdowns and third with 412.5 passing yards per game.
UCFIERCE NOTE
riding with richie
• Senior safety Richie Grant has been a leader on the defense for two years now and entered 2020 on the watch lists for the Bednarik, Nagurski and Thorpe awards.
• Grant has been named first-team all-conference in The American in two consecutive seasons and picked off seven passes in the last two years.
• He has already recorded his eighth career pick early this season and has recovered a pair of fumbles in two games.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Knights have had a player record 150 yards or more in back-to-back games to start the 2020 season, as Marlon Williams went for 154 at Georgia Tech and Jaylon Robinson had 150 at ECU. It was the first time UCF has achieved such a feat since 2002 when Jimmy Fryzel went for 174 at Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 23 and then Doug Gabriel had 179 against Ohio University on Nov. 30.