The Memphis Tigers (8-4, 5-3 American Athletic Conference) finished their regular season with an inspiring four-game win streak, helping them earn their second-straight AAC West Division Championship and trip to the AAC Championship game.
They will be facing the UCF Knights (11-0, 8-0 AAC) once again in the championship game, seeking revenge for the heartbreaking 31-30 loss they suffered at home to the Knights in their Oct. 13 matchup.
Memphis Tigers
The Memphis Tigers’ final regular season opponent was the Houston Cougars, who they defeated 52-31 to capture the AAC West Championship. They benefited from a strong run game headed by both Darrell Henderson and Patrick Taylor Jr., who both combined for 306 of the team’s 610 total yards.
The Tigers were forced to step up after the team’s passing offense failed to accomplish much of anything. Quarterback Brady White threw for 209 yards with one passing touchdown and two interceptions, marking his second game in a row with multiple interceptions.
The saving grace for the passing offense was Tony Pollard, a versatile player and the team’s leading receiver with 116 receiving yards. No other pass catcher had more than 30 yards. Pollard also had a strong game on the ground, rushing for 83 yards and scoring one touchdown on 11 carries.
Defensively, the unit played much better than the score suggests, managing to stick to Houston quarterback Clayton Tune all game. Tune was sacked five times, threw one interception and completed 18 of his 43 passes.
Defensive end Jonathan Wilson kept his sack streak alive, picking up two in the fourth quarter and bringing his season total to an impressive six sacks. Fellow defensive lineman John Tate IV also had a sack.
TJ Carter led the defensive backs with a strong performance, making two tackles, three pass breakups and the team’s lone interception for the defense.
Cornerback Tito Windham spoke to the media following the game about the secondary’s many opportunities to create a turnover and how it felt to finish a game with one.
“It felt good,” Windham said. “When TJ took advantage of that one, it felt good for him to get that interception and to end the game like that.”
UCF Knights
The Knights’ last game was against the USF Bulls, a team they defeated 38-10, to finish the regular season with a perfect 11-0 record. However, the biggest story of the game was the gruesome leg injury quarterback McKenzie Milton suffered in the second quarter. Milton was rushed to the hospital following the play to receive surgery and will miss the upcoming AAC Championship game and an undetermined amount of the time in the future.
Knights head coach Josh Heupel spoke to the media about Milton’s injury and acknowledged it would take a lot of hard work to overcome it.
“He’s a fighter,” Heupel said. “Obviously, he suffered a traumatic knee injury. There’s a lot of hurdles to cross here in the coming months, but he’s done really well.”
Stepping in to replace him is freshman Darriel Mack Jr., who has appeared in seven games this season, but the AAC Championship will be his first official start as a Knight. In his limited action against the Bulls, he threw for 81 yards, completed five of his 14 attempted passes and rushed for 51 yards.
The run game carried much of the weight for UCF’s offense following the injury and had four rushers with 10 or more carries. Sophomore running back Greg McCrae lead the team with 16 carries, 181 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, UCF played a stout game, accumulating four sacks and an interception. Their secondary ruled the day, both allowing USF to throw for only 113 yards and forcing an interception. They’ve forced at least one turnover each game in the regular season — the first time they’ve done this in school history.
Opinion: Game prediction
The Tigers have been looking good during the past four games, especially on defense. Their run defense has stifled some of the top rushing teams in the conference and has allowed an average of just 91.7 rushing yards in the last three games. UCF is expected to run much more in this week’s contest due to Milton’s injury.
What the Tigers have working for them is that even when the Knights were fully healthy, they were a holding call and a couple fumbles away from defeating them in a tight 31-30 game. With the Knights at such a disadvantage on offense, I think the Tigers will finally get over the hump and defeat UCF for the first time since 2004 and snap their current 12-losing streak against the Knights.
Final score prediction:
Memphis 30, UCF 27
Running back Darrell Henderson breaks loose from UCF defenders.
