UCF football’s quest for 10 wins stays alive with win over Tulane

With a close win on the road in New Orleans against Tulane, UCF football stayed alive for a chance to reach double-digit wins for the third straight year.

UCF may effectively be eliminated from the chance to defend the American Athletic Conference title they have held the past two seasons. The Knights might have no chance to return to a New Year’s Six bowl game in 2019 after going 1-1 against SEC opponents the past two postseasons.

Josh Heupel’s team does still have a chance to reach 10 wins for the third straight year, though, after they prevailed 34-31 in a tough interdivisional AAC battle against Tulane on Saturday afternoon.

Dillon Gabriel had some issues completing balls, but he still finished with 317 yards and a touchdown on 24-of-46 passing. The young quarterback added 58 rushing yards as he carried the ball 12 times over the course of the game. Darriel Mack Jr. also got some playing time at quarterback, throwing for one touchdown and adding another on the ground in his limited opportunity to get on the field.

What was noticeably absent was any semblance of the deep backfield we have seen in past games. Otis Anderson busted off a 44-yard touchdown run, but added only five yards on his other three carries in the game. Bentavious Thompson had nine carries for 35 yards, while Greg McCrae managed only 18 yards on his seven touches.

Tulane can hang its head high after putting in a solid effort on both sides of the ball in defeat. While the Green Wave ultimately fell at home in New Orleans to visiting UCF, they still showed impressive resolve as they continued to trade punches with the Knights throughout the contest. They played level with UCF in the second half on the scoreboard, but ran out of time at the end after pulling within a field goal inside the final minute of regulation.

Justin McMillan struggled to complete even half of his passes, finishing 13-of-27 for 181 yards and a touchdown. The quarterback added 102 yards as he kept the ball and ran 23 times over the course of the contest. Relying heavily on his legs, he left little reason for the Knights secondary to fear his arm. Ultimately the Tulane rushing attack could not do the job alone, even as the Green Wave ground game finished with 221 yards and two touchdowns.

Tulane threatened to go to overtime, but UCF recovered and ran out the rest of the clock to survive their trip to Yulman Stadium.

UCF has had to temper its goals this season, but they nevertheless remain one of the top Group of Five teams in the country even if they cannot reach the conference title game and are eliminated by rule from New Year’s Six consideration. They can get to 10 wins and return to the final polls if they win out in the War on I-4 at home against South Florida on Black Friday and then whoever they face in a bowl game this year.