The UCF Knights have accomplished the unthinkable in completing two consecutive undefeated seasons and hosting a second consecutive AAC Championship Game. Yet, a dark cloud hangs over the players and program going into this contest due to the debilitating knee injury suffered by The American’s two-time Offensive Player of the Year, quarterback McKenzie Milton last week against USF during the 38-10 Knights win.

Fans and student athletes alike through social media have instituted a rallying cry in #PlayFor10. The reverberations to win the game for their fallen captain seem to have provided focus to look past any frustration that may be caused in being ranked behind a two-loss Michigan team in the College Football Playoff Rankings.

This one for you my brother 🖤💉 #PlayFor10 pic.twitter.com/tIRzC6ARL8 — Darriel Mack Jr ™ (@DJMactastic1) November 26, 2018

While talk and public sentiment seems focused on their starting passer, head coach Josh Heupel’s approach when directing them going into Saturday.

“You put a lot of work in to building your season to the point that we’re at.”, Coach said. “Preparation is everything. We don’t have to do to anything out of the ordinary from what we’ve done. . .”

This fourth iteration of the Memphis Tigers and Knights battling in the past two seasons, including the 2017 AAC Championship Game is unique that it will be both teams featuring an offense predominately based on the ground game. While UCF’s defense allowed runners, including the Tigers Darrell Henderson, to churn up yardage on the stat sheet, their defensive end Titus Davis agrees that this is a chance in how much they’ve improved late in the season. “This is definitely the best opportunity for us to show how good and our defense can play and our defensive front”, Davis proclaimed. “Knowing that people doubt us. [That] people have doubts about us; showing them this Saturday what we can do is gonna be great for us”.

While stopping Henderson is a primary concern for the Knights defense, when they have the ball, they’ll need running backs Greg McCrae and Adrian Killins to have their presence felt to support freshman backup quarterback Darriel Mack Jr. While Mack’s completion percentage isn’t impressive, in both games that he’s seen action he’s also connected on big plays that set up points.

Regardless of whether or not UCF emerges as a back-to-back AAC Champion and completes extends their win streak to 25, they will be playing a bowl game. Whether that game is in mid-December or the first day of the 2019 calendar still has yet to be determined.

Kyle Nash, known as The Student of the Game, covers UCF Football for SportsMediaPass.com and is a special contributor for Break the Fourth. He’s a also a writer for the DolphinsWire of USA Today and co-host of the DinnerTime and Default Assault podcasts.