When the UCF and East Carolina football teams met last year, both were competing for an American Athletic Conference championship.
That storyline drastically changed in 2015 as both were hit with some eerily similar struggles. They had to replace several key starters who were hit by injuries, with the lose of their starting quarterbacks proving to be especially painful. And both endured a long, arduous 10-week stretch of college football games before getting their first bye this past Saturday.
Despite all of those challenges, the former rivals still find themselves bracing for what could be another dramatic game before a national ESPN audience Thursday night at Bright House Networks Stadium.