Glendale, Arizona has already established itself as a significant site in the history of UCF Knights football. Back in 2013, it was the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl where they beat Baylor for their first New Year’s Six Bowl victory. The Knights have returned to the southwestern United States in order to make history at the same event that is now instead sponsored by PlayStation in order to mark program achievement once more. The Southeastern Conference’s LSU Fighting Tigers on the quest for a 10-win season is the only thing standing between a 26th straight win and a second consecutive New Year’s Six Bowl title.

The challenge before the Knights in the 2019 edition of the Fiesta Bowl is not simple. Not only do they face a team that is physical on both sides of the ball, but they also do it without star quarterback McKenzie Milton in place to lead the offense. Darriel “DJ” Mack has been successful in the three games where he’s played significant minutes – especially when he led his offense to a comeback victory in the American Athletic Conference Championship from 17 points down at the half.

Conversely, LSU is also missing several players on their defense. Most notably cornerback Andraez “Greedy” Williams who has become one of the latest Tiger players to skip a bowl game to prepare for the NFL draft. Head Coach Ed Orgeron has faced this hurdle building schemes for bowl games in the past, he seemed more concerned about the lack of depth up front. “. . .We’re very thin on the defensive line. UCF’s going to run around 90 plays on us and our guys are going to get tested. We’re going to have to control the ball on offense to give our guys a break.”

All things being equal, it’s still easy to lean into the narrative that LSU would dominate UCF physically with their offensive line and overwhelm the Knights into submission. Their two-headed rushing attack features running backs Nick Brossette and Clyde Edwards-Helaire combining for 1,548 yards on 347 carries for 21 touchdowns on the ground in 2018. LSU’s man under center Joe Burrow is also the team’s third highest rusher with 375 yards on 119 attempts and seven trips for six on top of his 2,500 yards with 12 completions in the end zone and only four interceptions.

UCF head coach Josh Heupel acknowledged the importance slowing the Tigers rushing attack. “I think the line of scrimmage will be a big part of whoever is going to win this football game. . . we have to stop the run. It’s something that’s going to be critical in this football game. “

Defensive End Titus Davis and safety Richie Grant will have their hands full leading their squad to stop not only the running game, but the air attack featuring the Tigers’ wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Jefferson is good for 788 yards and only four touchdowns in 2018, and he’ll be utilized to try to move the chains on long 3rd downs should Davis build on his team-leading 16 tackles for a loss or 6.5 sacks.

While force is the forte’ for the Tigers, Coach Orgeron himself spoke to what makes UCF most dangerous. “The speed – the speed that they have at the wide receiver position; the speed that they have at running back; the speed and the tempo in which they run their plays, about getting lined up . . . that’s where they mess you up. They wear people out and in the fourth quarter you just can’t keep up.”

That is supported by numbers UCF’s backfield has put up. Led by Greg McCrae in a breakout season with 1,101 yards and nine scores on 123 carries, the corps of running backs and quarterbacks (and one by a defensive tackle from the fullback position) have combined for 40 trips for six.

While linebackers Devin White and Michael Divinity Jr will be asked to do a lot to prevent UCF from churning up ground yards, the X-factor for LSU is safety Grant Delpit. As a leader in sacks, interceptions, and passes defended for his team, Delpit will not only be watching up front for UCF’s backs running the ball or running routes from behind the line, he must also help account for the Knights top pass target Gabriel Davis who lead his crew in scoring catches and reception yards.

That’s not to say that Coach O thinks UCF is just a finesse team. He also paid tribute to the Knights big men on the offensive front. “I think when you look at them, the word’s ‘execution’”. He elaborated, “They’re in the right place at the right time, they execute the right blocks. . . With these sped up offenses, it’s like basketball on grass — It happens so fast that [defenses] can’t get lined up, can’t get their cleats in the grass. . . if this team would be huddling up and going at a regular pace, I would say that we had the advantage over their offensive line, but that’s not the case because the sped-up offense is the equalizer.”

Regardless of the adversity his team is facing, the prowess of the opponent, or the size of the stage in the event, Coach Heupel was going back to the same company line that has gotten UCF to repeat as an undefeated conference champion. “We’re looking forward to the opportunity of this [game] to give ourselves a chance to go 1-0 one more time”.

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.