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Fresh off a second-consecutive undefeated regular season but a narrow defeat in the Fiesta Bowl, No. 17 UCF will look to start a new winning streak when they take on Florida A&M Thursday night at Spectrum Stadium.
The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on CBS Sports Network. If you don’t have cable or don’t have that channel, you can watch a live stream of the game on your computer, phone, Roku, Fire TV Stick or other streaming device via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
CBS Sports Network is one of the 95-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which is largely tailored towards sports.
You can start a free seven-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which will allow you to watch the game on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
Hulu With Live TV comes with Hulu’s extensive on-demand library of TV shows and movies and 60-plus live TV channels, including CBS Sports Network.
You can sign up for Hulu with Live TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
YouTube TV comes with 70-plus live TV channels, including CBS Sports Network.
You can sign up for YouTube TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the YouTube website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or other compatible streaming device via the YouTube app.
If you can’t watch live, YouTube TV comes with included DVR.
UCF vs FAMU Preview
For UCF, McKenzie Milton is out for 2019 as he continues to recover from last year’s horrible leg injury, and Darriel Mack Jr. broke his ankle over the summer. That leaves the Knights with just one pass attempt of experience–which was a 42-yard touchdown from freshman Quadry Jones–from last year’s roster.
That would be a difficult proposition to overcome for most schools, especially one that isn’t a powerhouse with 5-star recruits littering the depth chart at every position, but the Knights actually do have a former Top-50 recruit ready to help in Notre Dame transfer Brandon Wimbush.
Wimbush, who was benched after three starts last season, never quite lived up to the hype in South Bend. While he was known as a dangerous dual-threat QB, the passing portion of that duality was never consistent, as he completed just 50.5 percent of his throws throughout his career with the Irish. But UCF head coach Josh Heupel and his coaching staff have concentrated on improving that part of Wimbush’s game.
“One of the things we wanted to work with him on were some fundamental things to help him become as consistent as we need him to be, and as he wants to be,” Heupel said. “There’s some subtle things between his footwork, shoulder level, the way he grips the ball, a lot of different things that are all building blocks to get him to where we want to be when we open the season, if he’s our starter.”
The Knights have a talented defense with at least a pair of future NFL players in the secondary (saftey Richie Grant, cornerback Brandon Moore), and they have weapons on offense with running backs Greg McCrae and Taj McGowan and wide receiver Gabriel Davis all back after productive seasons, but the team’s success could ultimately hinge on the play of Wimbush.
The real test will likely come against Stanford in Week 3, but this matchup should provide a good look at where Wimbush and the offense currently stand.
FBS side Florida A&M went 6-5 in Willie Simmons’ first year as head coach last season, finishing second in the MEAC after dropping their last three games.
Redshirt senior quarterback Ryan Stanley struggled with inconsistency for most of the year, finishing with a 59.9 percent completion rate and a mediocre 17-to-12 touchdown-to-interception ratio. But with another year of comfort with Simmons’ offense, he’s set up to take a step forward.
“He’s taken the mantle of being the unquestioned leader of the team,” Simmons said. “He’s had a really good offseason trying to hone in on his fundamentals. Usually, in year two, the quarterback makes a huge jump in understanding what we’re trying to do offensively. I expect him to have a productive spring and then put together in August.”
It won’t get any more difficult for Stanley and the Rattlers than the season opener on Thursday night. They’re pegged as 45.5-point underdogs.