(Photo by Tommy Cardinal / New Day Review)

Game Recap

ATLANTA, Ga. – Against the likes of No. 7 Auburn University, it seemed like no one gave the No. 12 UCF Knights a chance. Though, with a perfect, 13-0 season on the line and naysayers in mind, UCF did what few outside Orlando, Florida, thought was possible: win the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

“It’s no better feeling than coming into a game, being the underdog and everybody going around telling you you can’t win, and people say we going to lose by this much and that much,” linebacker Shaquem Griffin said after the Knights’ biggest win in school history. “I mean, we just waiting for somebody say what are we going to win by. We didn’t get that often.”

UCF (13-0, 8-0 in American Athletic Conference) beat Auburn (10-4, 7-1 in Southeastern Conference) 34-27 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Monday afternoon in front of 71,109 fans.

First Quarter

It was UCF’s defense, not its nation-leading scoring offense, that kept the 10-point underdog Knights in the game against Auburn. Both teams started the game with three-and-outs, as Milton finished the first quarter with one of his worst starts: 1-for-7 passing for 5 yards and a fumbled snap.

Fortunately for UCF, its defense showed up in a big way. In addition to holding Auburn to a three-and-out on its first drive, the Knights also held the Tigers to a field goal from their own 8-yard line.

The Knights ended the quarter with a 10-yard sack by Trysten Hill, putting Auburn in a third-and-24 situation. That eventually resulted in a missed 53-yard attempt by Auburn to start the second quarter.

“Defense kept us in that one early, and then offense hits its stride when it needed to,” outgoing Knights head coach Scott Frost said after the win. “A lot of credit to [defensive coordinator Erik Chinander] and his staff and that group of guys on defense. I told them before the game they needed to play harder than Auburn, and they did.”

Second Quarter

The themes of the first quarter extended to the second: Milton missed his targets but kept drives alive with his feet while UCF’s defense remained steadfast. After one half of play, Milton was 3-for-17 passing for 30 yards but rushed for 83 yards (long of 22) and a touchdown on seven carries (11.9 yards per carry).

The lone touchdown of the first half was initiated by an Auburn fumble. Quarterback Jarrett Stidham attempted to scramble but had the ball knocked loose by A.J. Wooten. Safety Tre Neal recovered the fumble and sped down the left sideline to Auburn’s 21-yard line. Two plays later, Milton rushed for 18 yards and the first touchdown of the game.

Auburn’s ensuing drive was marred by two penalties, totaling 18 yards, and an 11-yard sack by Griffin. That put Auburn in a fourth-and-28 situation for its fourth scoreless drive of the first half.

UCF should have led 17-3, but Milton narrowly overthrew Otis Anderson on a wide-open seam route.

“You know, I thought we could have played a lot better on offense in the first half,” Frost said. “We missed some chances–uncharacteristic for us. They have great defense, and they have future [National Football League] guys at every position.”

Both teams ended the first half with field goals on back-to-back possessions to make it a seven-point game.

Auburn used 15 plays to go 62 yards in a little more than four minutes to cut UCF’s lead to four. Stidham found Ryan Davis for a 19-yard toss from midfield, but, after incompletions on three of his next four passes and an eight-yard sack by Griffin, the Tigers had to settle for three.

UCF, then, orchestrated a 38-second drive behind 26 rushing yards by Milton and his first completion to a receiver not named Dredrick Snelson, a 16-yard connection to Tre’Quan Smith. Matthew Wright hit his second field goal of the game, a 45-yarder, to make it a seven-point lead.

Third Quarter

UCF struggled in all three phases of the game to start the third quarter.

Auburn’s Noah Igbinoghene sprung free for a 63-yard kickoff return to start the second half, setting up the Tigers for a touchdown pass to Will Hastings two plays later. Neal evaded an ejection after he was initially called for targeting, but the review overturned the call.

UCF, then, punted on consecutive drives, as Auburn took a 20-13 lead scoring on its next possession. Kam Martin had a run of 13 yards, and Stidham found Darius Slayton for a 29-yard pass to eventually allow Kerryon Johnson bulldoze his way into the end zone for the Tigers’ first lead since their opening field goal. Johnson was mostly limited against UCF, rushing for just 71 yards on 22 carries (3.2 yards per carry); he averaged 5.0 yards per carry in 2017.

“We just knew as a D-line we had to strike,” defensive lineman Jamiyus Pittman said after the win. “We put it on ourselves. If they ran the ball today, it was gonna be on us, and we just weren’t having it.”

That was all for Auburn in the third, though, as the Knights managed to keep the game from escaping them with a quarter-ending, game-tying drive. UCF drove the ball down to the Tigers’ 12-yard line in seven plays and tied the game at 20-20 off a screen pass to Anderson.

Fourth Quarter

Here’s where the action picked up. After Pittman and Griffin—who finished with 12 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss—sacked Stidham to end the third, Milton orchestrated an eight-play drive to take back the lead. He hit Smith and Gabriel Davis on back-to-back passes of 16 and 15 yards, respectively. Then, facing second and goal from Auburn’s 8-yard line, Milton evaded a sack, scrambled to his left and struck Snelson in the end zone for the lead.

UCF’s next drive could have put the Knights up by two scores, but Wright’s chip-shot attempt was blocked.

Two drives later, Stidham threw his first of two interceptions of the game. Redshirt senior Chequan Burkett snagged his second-career interception and made it a memorable one, taking it to the house for a 34-20 lead with just over five minutes to play.

Auburn didn’t go quietly, though, as the Tigers went 79 yards and scored in less than two minutes on their next drive. UCF and Wright, once again, had a chance to go up by two scores, but the 38-yard effort missed wide left.

That set up Auburn for a potential game-tying drive. In that drive, Stidham faced an early fourth-and-eight and found Hastings for passes of 12 and 18 yards on back-to-back plays. Auburn managed to drive to UCF’s 21-yard line, but a timeout set up the Knights for the game-deciding play.

With Kyle Gibson ejected because of a targeting call, Antwan Collier stepped up. Chinander sent pressure to Stidham, who threw the ball into the end zone for Collier to easily intercept.

“Going through the season, I was afraid to say much about the rankings and everything because I’m a little superstitious,” Frost said. “And just when a coach starts running his mouth, that’s when you lose the next game.

“But [the College Football Playoff rankings weren’t] right. I was watching every week, the committee sitting in a room and deciding this two-loss team must be better than UCF because UCF is in the American… It looked like a conscious effort to me to make sure that they didn’t have a problem if they put us too high and a couple teams ahead of us lost… But we just beat a team that beat two playoff teams and lost to another one by six points, and we beat them by seven.”

Player of the Game: LB Shaquem Griffin

The nation’s leading offense didn’t have its best day, but, led by Griffin, UCF’s defense kept the Knights in their most important game. Griffin recorded a game-high 12 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks. He was instrumental in helping the Knights hold Auburn to no touchdowns in the first half for the first time all season since No. 1 Clemson University did so in a 14-6 win over Auburn in Week 2.

What’s next?

The 2017 season is over.

NDR Notes

• Auburn was held to no touchdowns in the first half for the first time since losing to now-No. 1 Clemson in a 14-6 loss to the Tigers.
• Milton started the game 3-for-17 in the first half but finished 16-for-35 with 242 yards and two touchdowns.
• For the first time in his career, Milton recorded a 100-yard rushing game, rushing for 116 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries (8.9 yards per carry).

Scoring

Statistics

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

For more on the Knights, as they look toward the offseason and the 2018 season, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.