Written by Adrian Beecher
The stage is set for the AAC Championship game rematch between the undefeated UCF Knights and the Memphis Tigers on December 1st in sunny Orlando.
The Knights roll into the Championship game ranked 9th in the country, with 24 straight wins after dismantling USF in the annual #WarOnI4 game. However, they punched their ticket back on November 17th as they stifled the Bearcats of Cincinnati in a Primetime showdown that saw College Gameday make its first-ever trip to Orlando.
Memphis punched their ticket with a win over Houston on November 23rd, that started out in back in forth fashion until the Tigers took home a 21 point win, after dominating the 4th quarter. Coming in at 8-4, the Tigers might not look like the most formidable opponent for UCF, but they are the only team that has come close to knocking off the Knights this season.
The two squads squared off back on October 10th in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. The Tigers were unable to hold onto a 30-17 halftime lead as the Knights shut down the Tigers offense and came from behind to take home a 31-30 win.
In that October showdown, both teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards of total offense. Both teams offenses have lit up the stat lines this season, with UCF averaging 529.2 yards, while the Tigers average 523 yards. On the flip side of the ball, both teams defenses seem lacking, each allowing over 400 yards of total offense to opponents per game.
A key question for UCF is the health of quarterback McKenzie Milton who took a gruesome hit to his knee, with early reports from CBS reporter Ryan Bass stating that it is thought to be a dislocated knee. If this is the case, Milton will likely need 4-6 weeks to recover from that injury, leaving him out of the conference championship game.
Replacing Milton is the freshman Darriel Mack Jr., who started in the ECU game and took over after the injury against USF. Mack Jr. completed just 5 of 14 passes for 81 yards against USF. This laid the heavy pressure on the Knights running game to pick up the slack., which accounted for 391 yards in the Knights 38-10 win. They average 257 yards rushing per game, while to Memphis defense only allows 156 yards per game on the ground. Something will have to give.
This showdown is a rematch of last years conference title game, which was an overtime thriller, that the Knights got the best of with a 62-55 win in double OT. That game saw nearly 1,500 yards of total offense, the damper for UCF being that 494 of those yards came from Milton.
A win for UCF would solidify their spot in a New Years Six Bowl at the very least, with an outside chance to sneak into the College Football PLayoff if they got help from other teams losing around the country. A win for Memphis would put them as the only team to beat UCF since 2016, and end the 24 game winning streak.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 pm EST on ABC Sunday, Dec. 1st at Spectrum Stadium in Orlando, FL.
