(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)
ATLANTA, Ga. – While quarterback McKenzie Milton and his receiving corps have generated headlines with their prolific passing attack, the matchup between the UCF Knights’ running-back group and Auburn University’s front seven may be the matchup to watch in the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Knights have utilized a timeshare between Adrian Killins and Otis Anderson, among others, this season, as 10 different players have scored a rushing touchdown for UCF.
In 2017, the Knights have scored 38 rushing touchdowns, tied with the United States Air Force Academy for eighth-most in the country. UCF opponents have even employed unconventional tactics in an effort to slow down UCF’s high-scoring rushing attack.
“You know, we have some fast guys, and probably the craziest thing that I’ve seen so far is when we played [the USF Bulls],” UCF offensive lineman Wyatt Miller said Friday morning at a team presser. “They took out their two inside linebackers and put in—I don’t know if they were nickel guys or whatever—just to be able to keep up with our backs.”
Auburn’s stalwart defense may not need to utilize such drastic measures to hold the Knights’ rushing attack in check. The Tigers’ defense is tied for 10th in the nation with seven other teams in rushing touchdowns allowed, allowing just 10 rushing scores all season.
“I believe that their linebackers fill the gaps pretty quickly,” said Anderson, who has four rushing touchdowns in his first college season, Friday morning at a team presser. “We have to make moves very quickly and just do what we can to get extra yards and fight for extra yards. They are great athletes, and they are the best defense that we have faced.”
Auburn could have a slight advantage in the trenches, as a key piece of UCF’s offensive line will be sidelined for the Peach Bowl. Knights left tackle Aaron Evans will miss UCF’s biggest game of the season with an injury. He was a mainstay on UCF’s offensive line, missing just one game over the course of three seasons and starting all 12 of UCF’s wins this year.
With Evans, UCF kept the ball moving on the ground. The Knights offense was ranked 33rd in rushing yards per game (201.2) and suffered the eighth-fewest tackle-for-loss yards (182) in 2017.
Redshirt sophomore Jake Brown, who has been the primary left guard for 11 of UCF’s games this season, is expected to fill in for Evans. That could thrust freshman Samuel Jackson, who has appeared off the bench in every UCF game this year, into Brown’s role.
“When you play as an offensive line, there’s five guys, and those five have to play as one,” Miller said. “That’s something we’ve been working on these past couple weeks is kind of getting that mesh and getting used to playing besides somebody new.”
Despite playing without Evans, UCF’s backs don’t need a lot of space for big plays. Killins, considered one of the fastest players in college football, has recorded three runs longer than 60 yards, tied for sixth-most in the nation, including a school record 96-yard run in the season’s first meeting with the Memphis Tigers. UCF, as a team, is tied for ninth in 60-plus-yard runs with five.
Ultimately, the Knights know success will be dictated at the line of scrimmage. Facing a physical team like Auburn is a challenge tight end Jordan Akins welcomes.
“Physical. They are very physical,” Akins said at a team presser Friday. “They play downhill. They make plays in open space. You know, they are athletes. They are probably the best that we’re going to face this year. I mean, we’re looking forward to going against them.”
UCF and Auburn face off on New Year’s Day in front of a sold-out Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 12:30 p.m. The Peach Bowl will be broadcast on ESPN.
For more on the Knights, as they prepare for the Peach Bowl, follow Tommy Cardinal on Twitter at @NDR_TomCardinal.
