Auburn Football: UCF stuns Tigers in Peach Bowl

Auburn football was unable to overcome a slow start to defeat AAC Champion UCF in the Chic-fil-A Peach Bowl. Here’s what we learned about both squads.

More: Complete 2017-2018 bowl schedule

Auburn football came within one win of a trip to the College Football Playoff. The Tigers took down No. 1 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama but were unable to run the gauntlet, falling to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Their third loss of the season kept them out of Playoff contention. Instead they were invited to the Chic-fil-A Peach Bowl against UCF.

The UCF Knights were looking to finish the season as the only undefeated FBS team in the nation. Head coach Scott Frost led the Knights to an AAC Championship and a New Year’s Six Bowl before accepting the head coaching job at Nebraska. He stuck around to coach his former team in their bowl game.

It took a while for the Auburn offense to get going in this one. UCF took a 13-6 lead into half time, but it didn’t last long. The Tigers needed just two plays in the second half to score the equalizing touchdown. The two squads traded touchdowns, entering the fourth quarter dead-locked at 20-20.

A frenetic fourth quarter saw UCF take a two score lead. Auburn would have a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but a endzone interception gave the UCF Knights a perfect season. Here are three takeaways from UCF’s win over Auburn in the Peach Bowl.