St. Petersburg Bowl Betting Odds

Opening Line: UCF +2.5 / Rutgers -2.5 O/U 44.5

Time: 8 PM EST Saturday December 19, 2009 on ESPN

The Central Florida Knights face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and their solid defense in the St. Petersburg Bowl. UCF ended the season well winning their last 3 games including beating a Houston team that was ranked 15th at the time. On the other hand Rutgers did not end the season well losing 2 of their last 3 games including losing their last game of the season. Both teams beat one ranked team this season and this game may be a defensive battle, as each team has a legit defense, but neither team's offense is ranked in the top 80 in the nation.

This season Central Florida was 9-2 ATS and Rutgers was 5-5 ATS

Rutgers has the nation's 99th ranked offense and their main weapon in the backfield is RB Joe Martinek (923 yds 9 TD). The Scarlet Knight's passing offense ranks 88th in the nation and they are led by QB Tom Savage (1,917 yds 12 TD 6 INT). These guys are decent, but they will not light up the scoreboard, as the reason Rutgers finished 8-4 was because of their defense. Speaking of defense UCF ranks 46th in the nation on that side of the ball and they are great at defending the run, ranking 4th in the nation, but weak at defending the pass ranking 112th in the nation. They will have to pressure Savage and not allow WR Tim Brown (51 rec 1,051 yds 8 TD), who averaged over 20 yards per reception, make the big play downfield.

UCF ranks 84th in the nation on offense and they are decent at passing the ball with QB Brett Hodges (2,263 yds 15 TD 11 INT) and running the ball with RB Brynn Harvey (1,077 yds 14 TD). Harvey will have a tough time picking up yards in this game against a Rutgers' defense that ranks 19th in the nation and is better at stopping the run than the pass. Add to the fact that Harvey only averaged 4.3 yards per carry this season. Hodges may be counted on to provide the offense for the Knights and he does have a good target in WR Kamar Aiken, who had 7 TD's this season and averaged 17 yards per reception.

Rutgers was a solid 4-1 this season in away game and this is sort of an away game for them, as Central Florida will have more fans at the game with this bowl being held in their home state.

Central Florida is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games and the total has gone Over in 4 of their last 6 games. Rutgers is 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games.

Our Selection : We think Rutgers is the better team on both sides of the ball. This line opened as a pick but the smart money has pushed it to 2.5, where it has been all week. Take Rutgers -2.5


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