Cure Bowl comparisons

Arkansas State running back Warren Wand (right) is coming off his best game, when he rushed for 135 yards and 1 touchdown and had 64 yards receiving against Texas State
Arkansas State running back Warren Wand (right) is coming off his best game, when he rushed for 135 yards and 1 touchdown and had 64 yards receiving against Texas State

Central Florida on offense:

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AP

Central Florida quarterback McKenzie Milton, a true freshman, has started nine games and completed 172 of 297 passes for 1,808 yards and 9 touchdowns with 7 interceptions.

Scott Frost brought his up-tempo Spread option offense across three time zones from Oregon and immediately started inserting his own guys. A recruiting class that was ranked by Rivals.com second in the American Athletic Conference already is well represented on offense. True freshman quarterback McKenzie Milton of Hawaii has started nine games. Running back Juwan Hamilton rushed for a team-best 481 yards and right guard Jordan Johnson has started 11 games. Two freshman receivers are on the two-deep, too. The Knights aren’t yet to the levels of the offenses Frost directed at Oregon, though. They ranked seventh in the AAC in scoring (30.1), ninth in rushing (151.9 yards per game) and passing (209.6) and 10th in total offense (361.5). UCF has had ball security issues this year. Its 13 lost fumbles are the most in the AAC and rank 118th nationally. But the Knights have done well close to the end zone, converting on 30 of 33 red-zone chances, including 22 touchdowns.

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Arkansas State on offense:

A year after breaking a school and Sun Belt scoring record, Arkansas State hasn’t looked much the same way under first-year offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and two first-year quarterbacks. The Red Wolves average 27.0 points per game and 391.5 yards this season, their lowest mark in both categories since 2009, when they finished 4-8. ASU scored 35 points or more four times against Sun Belt teams, but only one of those was against a bowl team. It struggled early with turnovers — nine combined in losses to Utah State and Central Arkansas — but ended the season with 16, its lowest total in three years. Red-zone inconsistencies have plagued them most of the year. It almost cost them against Georgia State and did in a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, when it cashed in just twice in six tries in a loss that kept them from an outright Sun Belt title. The Red Wolves converted on 37 of 47 red-zone chances, the ninth-best percentage in the Sun Belt. A positive is that running back Warren Wand is coming off his best game, when he rushed for 135 yards and 1 touchdown and had 64 yards receiving. Justice Hansen threw 6 interceptions in his first 4 games, but has just 2 since, while completing 58.5 percent of his passes.

Intangibles

Arkansas State has experience — on its team and in bowls — but Central Florida will likely have the help of the home crowd. Which will win out? ASU is playing in its sixth consecutive bowl game, while Central Florida is trying to cap this season with a wining record after last year’s 0-12 finish. Quarterback Justice Hansen will be playing in his first bowl game, but every other expected ASU starter has played in one before. Central Florida has four true freshmen on offense and one on defense expected to contribute in their first bowl game. Coach Scott Frost has bowl experience as an assistant coach at Oregon and as a player at Nebraska and Stanford, but not as a head coach. ASU Coach Blake Anderson is trying to win his first bowl game as a head coach.

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