UCF defense confident struggles have been rectified ahead of Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

Written By Brett Korpi

​On the way to an undefeated season and an American Athletic Conference championship, UCF had to overcome lapses of its defense in their final two games which came against rival USF and then Memphis in the AAC title game. The Knights will need to fix self-admitted mental errors on defense to give their offense a cushion against Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

“The last couple games, we made mental errors, and we went back and fixed those,” said UCF defensive lineman Jamiyus Pittman.

Those errors have led to the Knights giving up over 1,000 yards, and almost 100 points combined in their games against USF and Memphis. Luckily for the UCF defense, the Knights offense was able to carry the load in those victories. However, going up against an SEC team like Auburn will be a much stiffer test on both sides of the ball.

“The whole scheme is going to present problems for the linebackers and defensive backs,” UCF defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said of Auburn’s offense. “But in this kind of game, when you have a lot of time to prepare, I think it’s about us. It’s about us more than it is about them…It’s about us executing every single play and winning some one-on-one matchups.”

Despite their struggles at the end of the season the Knights D still has playmakers that can cause fits for the Tigers.

“In my opinion 18 (Shaquem Griffin) is probably the best pass rusher I’ll go against all year,” Said Auburn offensive lineman Austin Golson of his matchup on New Year’s Day. “I think he’s a very good player. I have a lot of respect for the style of football that he plays.”

Griffin, the leader of UCF’s defense, was thankful for the praise when it was relayed to him and is excited about the matchup. “It means a lot obviously, and you know Auburn has a really good O-Line, and it’s going to be really fun experience come Monday.”

Even though the offense led the way for the Knights in their most significant wins, the defense still came up clutch drawing turnovers that sealed the games.

“W is the most important stat for us. In both games, we ended the game with a turnover which is – it’s kind of twofold.” Chinander said, “obviously, you look back and say, that was a lot of yards given up and a lot of points on the board. Do I like that? No. But do I love the fact those guys didn’t lose their camaraderie, didn’t give up and came back and won the games for the team? Absolutely.”

The UCF defense will have the chance to help seal an undefeated season against Auburn in the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Monday, Jan 1st, at 12:30 PM ET, from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.