The 2018 UCF football season is in the books, finishing 12-1 with an American Athletic Conference championship and a Fiesta Bowl appearance. There were highs and there were lows. Expectations and pressure kept rising and it was all topped with adversity. Looking back at how the Knights got here, we can also look at where they are going.

The pressure on Josh Heupel was astronomical

Coming off a 13-0 season in 2017, the entire coaching staff packed up and bleached the house before leaving for Nebraska. UCF made the move to hire Josh Heupel to replace Scott Frost. There were a lot of parallels between the two. The goal of athletic director Danny White was to try and make the transition as seamless as possible. This required rocking the boat as little as possible.

Heupel deserves a lot of credit. He was able to limit the amount of disruption while starting to integrate his philosophy into the program. Attrition was surprisingly light. Backup quarterback Noah Vedral left to return to his home state of Nebraska, which didn’t surprise anyone. Other players like Trysten Hill tried to follow, but the school was able to block the transfers. Vedral was willing to drop his scholarship to go to Nebraska. Other players were not. This helped keep the roster largely intact.

With the program riding a 13 game winning streak and an NCAA recognized national championship, the pressure on Heupel to continue the high level of performance was immense. Heupel, having to essentially start from scratch with his recruiting, was able to bring in a decent class that had a few players make early contributions on the field such as Randy Charlton and Eriq Gilyard.

The success of UCF in 2018 has rolled into an even better 2019 recruiting class. With some of the depth issues UCF might face in a few positions, some of these freshmen could see the field.

Responding to adversity

UCF had major expectations in 2018 and while the 2018 team was not as good as the 2017 team, they were still one of the nation’s best. With a new coaching staff and a new defensive game plan, it took some time to adjust and there were definitely bumps in the road. In five out their thirteen games, the Knights trailed after the first quarter. In four games, they trailed at halftime. They ended up coming back and winning three of those four in the second half.

One of those comeback wins was in the AAC Championship Game where UCF rode the arm of backup quarterback Darriel Mack Jr. The game prior against rival South Florida, starting quarterback McKenzie Milton, who had led the Knights throughout 2017 and into 2018 suffered a serious knee dislocation which immediately made Mack the guy. The team rose up, made the necessary adjustments to beat South Florida, and gave Mack ample time to work against Memphis in the conference championship game.

The injury to Milton didn’t deflate the team but galvanized them and the fan base. Using Milton’s Hawaiian heritage, the Hawaiian term ohana, or family, became a rallying cry. While the rally came up short against an LSU team that wreaked havoc on UCF’s offensive line, the Knights were able to make the Fiesta Bowl a respectable game and finish in the top 15 of both the AP and Coaches poll.

Attrition is part of the game

As any college program knows, players come and they go. It’s the nature of the beast. For UCF, their starting lineup in 2018 was loaded with juniors and seniors. This can lead to lesser depth and experience next season. Sometimes, underclassmen, after three years away from high school, declare for the draft. UCF had two such players at the writing of this in defensive tackle Trysten Hill and wide receiver Dredrick Snelson. Hill and Snelson’s decision to leave early should come to little or no surprise. Aside from Hill trying to leave after the 2017 season, there was much speculation that Snelson would be on his way out after 2018 as well. With the continual rise of Gabriel Davis and the success of Tre Nixon as an Ole Miss transfer into the program, Snelson left when his he felt his perceived value was at its highest. As for Hill, he best fits in a 3-4 defense as opposed to a 4-3 defense which defensive coordinator Randy Shannon switched to this year.

UCF also has a pair of wide receivers decide to transfer out of the program in Dontae Mayfield and Jaquarius Bagnare. On the flip side, the Knights did pick up linebacker Aundre Kearney and defensive lineman Cam Goode, both from Virginia Tech and could be in play for either quarterback Jalen Hurts from Alabama or Brandon Wimbush from Notre Dame. Family connections matter too as Tre Nixon’s brother, Devin, has transferred to UCF as well. UCF has made itself into an attractive destination and more players could end up finding a new home in Orlando. It is assumed at this time that the scholarship transfers with the exception of graduate transfer Jordan Hayes, a defensive back from Duke, will have to sit out a year. Players could try to file for waivers with the NCAA.

There were plenty of seniors in the two-deep roster though. Seventeen players, not including senior kick Matthew Wright or punter Mac Loudermilk, will be leaving UCF who were on the two-deep roster. While fans might simply say “next man up”, the loss of the experience hurts.

The biggest two areas of concern after the attrition to the roster are the offensive and defensive lines. On the offensive line, the Knights lose Wyatt Miller and Taylor Hudanick on the left side. While players like Parker Boudreau and Trevor Elbert and slated to move up, Miller was the leader of the line. Someone else will need to step up as that vocal leader. It’s a safe assumption that center Jordan Johnson will need to be the guy to fill the role.

The defensive line takes a big hit. Aside from Hill leaving early, the Knights lose Titus Davis, who had an outstanding season at defensive end, Joey Connors, A.J. Wooten, Aaron Cochran, and Gabriel Luyanda. Essentially, six out of the eight players in the two-deep will not be suiting up next season. This is where the on-field experience for Charlton will really come in handy. He, along with Brandon Hayes will need to anchor a new unit.

The area of least concern are the running backs. While Taj McGowan’s eligibility is up, and his size will be missed, this unit is stacked with talent. Adrian Killins Jr will be back for his senior season while breakout star Greg McCrae and Otis Anderson will be back for their junior seasons. Add in Bentavious Thompson and there is no shortage of depth.

Overall, the star talent lost in 2018 isn’t as bad as 2017, but there were more losses on the two-deep roster. Having a stable coaching staff from 2018 to 2019 will help move players up.

The schedule

The bane of UCF’s CFP aspirations. UCF had high hopes in 2018, but the schedule fell flat. Florida Atlantic was supposed to be one of the top Group of Five teams in 2018 and failed to deliver. North Carolina was so bad, the game itself was mercy-killed by Hurricane Florence. The conference mates of the American Athletic Conference also largely underperformed. Temple lost to an FCS school and Buffalo to open the season before their fortunes changed with a quarterback substitution. Memphis bumbled through the first half of the season before finding their stride and taking advantage of Houston’s late-season misfortunes. UConn and East Carolina were just plain bad. As for rival South Florida, after opening to a 7-0 record, full of late-game comebacks and moxie, the mojo ran out and they dropped their final six games. This hurt UCF’s postseason chances with the CFP.

Looking ahead to 2019, UCF will be hoping their opponents put a better product on the field. The highlight of the season is a home game against Stanford. The Cardinal underperformed in 2018 and have lost their star running back Bryce Love to the NFL. The Knights also hit the road against ACC runner-up Pitt. The two played in 2018 with Knights defeating the Panthers soundly 45-14. Also, UCF will have a road game at Florida Atlantic where the Owls look to avenge a 56-36 loss in 2018. The Owls will be without their star running back Devin Singletary as he declared for the NFL draft.

For the American Athletic Conference slate, UCF hosts Houston and South Florida at home while traveling to Cincinnati and Tulane. Houston was thought to be the class of the AAC West division before losing quarterback D’Eriq King to injury and defensive lineman Ed Oliver to a massive falling out with coach Major Applewhite. Oliver is off to the NFL and Applewhite has been replaced by former West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. It will be hard to tell what the Cougars will be bringing to Orlando. South Florida is entering a bit of a rebuilding phase after the epic collapse last season. A number of players were removed from the program and even some coaches were too. Charlie Strong has his work cut out for him. Tulane is a team that can be easily overlooked, but was one of the most improved teams in the AAC in 2018 and can be a potential trap game in New Orleans. They fell just short of winning the logjam in the AAC West before Memphis came away with it. Lastly, the team most likely to compete with UCF in the AAC is their divisional mate Cincinnati. The Bearcats had a strong 2018, ending the season ranked in the top 25. Their success also helped UCF to host ESPN College GameDay for the first time ever. Cincinnati was able to retain coach Luke Fickell, who has found his stride after a failed one year stint as Ohio State’s head coach. He will be armed with star running back Michael Warren II, who carved up over 1300 yards this past season. The Knights had the benefit of a home game in 2018 but will need to win on the road next season.

Gone streaking

Yes, the win streak has ended at 25 games. This is an amazing feat, but win streak ending isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The problem with a streak is that the most important game becomes the next game. The pressure on the players and coaches is heavy. Especially with the expectation that McKenzie Milton will not play in 2019, not having such a win streak on the shoulders of likely starter Darriel Mack Jr is a major relief of pressure. Who knows? It could end up being new freshman Dillon Gabriel or a transfer who ends up starting under center next season. Either way, a clean slate is not a bad thing.

Wrapping up

UCF fans have a lot to be proud of. In their six seasons in the American Athletic Conference, they have four conference championships, albeit one was shared prior to being able to stage the championship game. Despite the massive disaster that was the 2015 season, UCF has been the overall premier school in the conference. 2019 is shaping up to be more of the same, provided that the coaching staff can properly retool their lost depth.

While the big win streak is gone, the Knights are still riding some other streaks, including a 32 game streak with a takeaway, a 26 game streak scoring at least 30 points(an all-time AP era record), and a 13 game home winning streak(15 of you count conference championship games). Now what awaits UCF is wrapping up the transfer game, getting the second signing day in February out of the way(seems so anticlimactic with the new early signing period), and spring practice before they do it all again.

I’ve been writing off and on since 2003, where I first wrote for Southern College Sports. After a hiatus, I returned in 2012 with The Sports Chronicles, a predecessor of NGSC Sports. After a brief stint with WBLZ in 2017, I returned to NGSC Sports before joining Blue HQ Media in 2018. Also, from 2015 to 2017, I helped run Off the Cuff, a sports program and blog with STLR Media. I have done radio and podcasts dating back to 2006 with The Student of the Game, an NFL podcast. In 2012, I cohosted TSC Saturday Night on the Sports Chronicles and The OT With Andrew G on WTMY in Sarasota, FL. I later moved the OT to NGSC Sports until 2014 where I started The College Cram, also on NGSC Sports. After a brief hiatus, I returned to radio in 2015 with both Off the Cuff on STLR and The Mad Scientist Sports Lab on The Inscriber.