CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2018 UCF

12–⁠1 (8–⁠0 American Athletic Conference), coached by Josh Heupel, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

UCF in 2018, game by game: won at UConn 56–17; won vs. South Carolina State 38–0; won vs. Florida Atlantic 56–36; won vs. Pittsburgh 45–14; won vs. SMU 48–20; won at Memphis 31–30; won at East Carolina 37–10; won vs. Temple 52–40; won vs. Navy 35–24; won vs. No. 19 Cincinnati 38–13; won at South Florida 38–10; won vs. Memphis 56–41; lost vs. No. 11 LSU 32–40+39−8Won 56–17 at UConn+39UConnWon 38–0 vs. South Carolina State+38South Carolina …Won 56–36 vs. Florida Atlantic+20Florida AtlanticWon 45–14 vs. Pittsburgh+31PittsburghWon 48–20 vs. SMU+28SMUWon 31–30 at Memphis+1MemphisWon 37–10 at East Carolina+27East CarolinaWon 52–40 vs. Temple+12TempleWon 35–24 vs. Navy+11NavyWon 38–13 vs. No. 19 Cincinnati+25No. 19 CincinnatiWon 38–10 at South Florida+28South FloridaWon 56–41 vs. Memphis+15MemphisLost 32–40 vs. No. 11 LSU-8No. 11 LSU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30atUConnW 56–⁠1780%
Sep 8vsSouth Carolina StateW 38–⁠094%
Sep 21vsFlorida AtlanticW 56–⁠3669%
Sep 29vsPittsburghW 45–⁠1480%
Oct 6vsSMUW 48–⁠2087%
Oct 13atMemphisW 31–⁠3060%
Oct 20atEast CarolinaW 37–⁠1083%
Nov 1vsTempleW 52–⁠4076%
Nov 10vsNavyW 35–⁠2490%
Nov 17vs19CincinnatiW 38–⁠1378%
Nov 23atSouth FloridaW 38–⁠1072%
Dec 1vsMemphisAmerican Athletic Championship GameW 56–⁠4176%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs11LSUFiesta BowlL 32–⁠4062%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to LSU 40–⁠32 in the Fiesta Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; American Athletic Conference champions.

In program history: The best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 40 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 21
  2. Wk 2: 19
  3. Wk 3: 18
  4. Wk 4: 16
  5. Wk 5: 13
  6. Wk 6: 12
  7. Wk 7: 10
  8. Wk 8: 10
  9. Wk 9: 10
  10. Wk 10: 9
  11. Wk 11: 11
  12. Wk 12: 11
  13. Wk 13: 8
  14. Wk 14: 7
  15. Wk 15: 7
  16. Final: 11

American Athletic Conference champions8–⁠0 in the conference, won the American Athletic Championship Game

Record
12–⁠1
Conference
8–⁠0 first in American Athletic Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 7
Points
562–⁠295
Coach
Josh Heupel
Elo
1756 +101 this season
SP+ rating
16.5 No. 18 of 130; offense No. 11, defense No. 47, special teams No. 8
SRS
12.9 No. 17 of 130 in FBS
Returning
78% of last season’s EPA, No. 33 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 62 roster talent No. 55 in FBS
Defensive coordinator
Randy Shannon
Offense
Veer and shoot
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense3rd of 130
  • Defense50th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted5th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted56th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.3348%1.403rd of 130
Defense0.0642%1.2050th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.27 off
0.08 def		47% off
43% def		—5th off
56th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.9own 2913% allowed
Defense2.6own 2819% caused

CORE rating 14.1, 13th of 130 (offense 13.5, defense -0.6).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsMcKenzie Milton QB2,663 yds
Passing touchdownsMcKenzie Milton QB25 TD
Rushing yardsGreg McCrae RB1,182 yds
Rushing touchdownsGreg McCrae RB10 TD
Receiving yardsGabriel Davis WR815 yds
Receiving touchdownsGabriel Davis WR7 TD
TacklesRichie Grant DB108 tkl
SacksTitus Davis DL6.5 sacks
InterceptionsRichie Grant DB6 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Ke’von Ahmad WR★★★No. 437
Eriq Gilyard OLB★★★No. 499
Randy Charlton SDE★★★No. 736
Jermaine McMillian S★★★No. 1030
Landon Woodson WDE★★★No. 1075

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks12.00.774
Running backs13.00.830
Receivers22.50.835
Offensive line43.00.832
Defensive line62.80.835
Linebackers23.00.864
Defensive backs33.00.838
Whole class192.80.834

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 2Trysten Hill DTDallas Cowboys

Roster 106

The 2018 roster

106 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 61 have a stat line. See the roster

2018 American Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
UCF8–⁠012–⁠111
Temple7–⁠18–⁠5
Cincinnati6–⁠211–⁠224
Houston5–⁠38–⁠5
Memphis5–⁠38–⁠6
Tulane5–⁠37–⁠6
SMU4–⁠45–⁠7
South Florida3–⁠57–⁠6
Tulsa2–⁠63–⁠9
Navy2–⁠63–⁠10
East Carolina1–⁠73–⁠9
UConn0–⁠81–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.