In a game that was remarkably similar to their regular-season meeting, UCF rallied past Memphis to claim The American Championship behind the inspired play of a freshman quarterback and punched a ticket to the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
by Dick Weiss for TheAmerican.org
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Twenty-five consecutive victories and two years of perfection.
Two consecutive American Athletic championships and a signature win over SEC power Auburn in the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
And a pocket full of miracles, the latest orchestrated by UCF’s redshirt freshman backup quarterback Darriel Mack Jr., who was playing for injured star McKenzie Milton and accounted for six touchdowns, recovering from a shaky three-fumble start to lead the Knights back from a 17-point second half deficit against Memphis during a dramatic 56-41 victory in the league’s conference championship game before an ABC-TV audience and a crowd of 45,176 at Spectrum Saturday.
None of the giants—particularly the established in-state programs-- want to play the Knights home and home in a nonconference game.
But UCF still can’t earn enough respect with the College Playoff Selection committee to make a dent in what should be a growing debate. This is a frustrated program that believes it can play with anyone but has found itself on the outside looking in at the top four once again.
UCF finished ranked eighth in the final CFP poll, behind Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Georgia, Ohio State and two-loss Michigan. The Knights’ prize will be a trip to the PlayStatoin Fiesta Bowl where they will play No. 11 LSU (9-3)—a team that defeated Georgia by 20 points in Baton Rouge and is coming off a seven-overtime loss at Texas A&M in College Station.
UCF AD Danny White, as expected, was not pleased, “There has been a national conversation that has been going on for the last 11 months after we won the Peach Bowl and I declared us national champions,” White said. “I don’t feel, and I’ve been pretty vocal about it, that a four-team playoff is adequate in college football. I think last year showed that. Our student athletes now have won 25 straight games. They deserve to be in the playoff.
“I hope the leadership of college recognizes the story of our team and it’s educated them to the type of football being played in our conference and across the country. There are more than four teams that deserve to settle it on the field.”
The simplest solution would be to expand the playoff to eight teams.
“I think there may be more enthusiasm for change after this season,” White said. Given the fact that the Big Ten and the Pac-12 also weren’t included in the mix, there might be more voices pushing for inclusion.
It would be fun to see what UCF, America’s newest national power, could do, especially now that the 230-pound Mack is drawing comparisons to Daunte Culpepper, a Knights’ star quarterback in the 90s, after the Knights rolled up 698 yards of total offense. UCF tightened up its defense in the second half to limit Memphis to just three points.
Mack, who was voted the game’s Most Outstanding Player, was sensational, completing 19 of 27 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He began the thrilling comeback from a 31-14 deficit with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Otis Anderson 2:54 into the second half to cut the lead to 38-28 and finished it off by bulling his way into the end zone for three touchdowns of 2, 2 and 5 yards.
“Everybody has confidence in him. You saw that tonight,” UCF coach Josh Heupel said after the game. “He has a lot of confidence in himself, too.”
Mack had plenty of help. Greg McCrae, who has been a revelation in late season, rushed for 202 yards and a touchdown for the Knights, whose win was remarkably similar to their 16-point rally against Memphis during the regular season.
The Knights never panicked, even after Memphis’ All-America running back candidate Darrell Henderson rushed for 207 yards and threw a four-yard TD pass – all in the first half.
Knights’ defensive coordinator Randy Shannon made the defensive adjustments to limit Henderson to three yards on six carries in the second half.
If the halftime margin didn’t serve as enough motivation for UCF, then the thought of Milton, The American’s two-time Offensive Player of the Year, did the job. Milton was released from the hospital Friday and went home to the apartment his parents rent in the city during the season to watch the championship game on television.
Milton has already undergone multiple surgeries and is recovering well from the vascular part of his injury, his mother Teresa told ESPN. If his recovery goes well, he could have reconstructive knee surgery in four to six weeks.
The players vowed to play for Milton and UCF made sure to include him in pregame preparations. Milton participated in the quarterback meetings all week via Facetime. On game day, the school distributed 40,000 leis to celebrate Milton, who was born in Hawaii. Thousands of fans wore Hawaiian shirts. UCF players had 808, the area code for Hawaii, and 10Hana on the players’ helmets. And Teresa Milton’s connected with McKenzie via Facetime so he could watch the celebration.
UCF’s win was the highlight of a big weekend for The American. Seven teams from the conference - UCF, Memphis, Cincinnati, Temple, Houston, USF and Tulane — will be competing in postseason bowls.
And the Knights are once again living in their own Magic Kingdom.