UCF finished its regular season Friday with its highest point total of the season—and third effort of 51 points or more in 2020—in defeating rival South Florida. Along the way, the Knights won four games away from home, a rare feat so far this fall. And, in another bizarre note, UCF has been the only American Athletic Conference team to not have a game postponed or cancelled due to COVID.
The Knights (6-3 overall, 5-3 in AAC competition) expect to play in a to-be-determined bowl game. And their current statistical numbers are affected by playing three fewer regular-season games than planned.
As UCF awaits its postseason assignment, here are some takeaways from the nine-game regular season—with NCAA stat rankings to be affected by extra weekends of regular-season play for multiple other teams:
- The Knights have been amazingly consistent under Josh Heupel when it comes to scoring points. In 2018, Heupel's first season in Orlando, UCF averaged 43.2 points per game (sixth in final NCAA stats). A year ago, that number bumped up a notch to 43.4 (fifth nationally). Then in 2020 the Knights have averaged 44.3 per contest (currently ranking ninth). That sort of production will win a lot of football games. UCF in 2020 averaged 85.6 plays per game and 28.3 first downs per outing (to lead the nation).
- One play away. In Heupel's 28-7 career record (.800) with UCF, those seven defeats have come by an average of 3.8 points per game—none of them by more than eight points. That fits with his mantra of finishing plus-one every week. Even in those seven losses, the Knights still scored 32.7 points per game.
- The Knights said Dillon Gabriel would be better—and he was. Everyone connected with the UCF program—Gabriel included—said the second-year quarterback would be more comfortable in 2020 and that translated to even better numbers than in his rookie season. The Knights continue to lead the nation in passing (373.0 yards per game) while ranking second in total offense (585.6). Gabriel on an individual basis stands #1 nationally in passing yards per game (372.6), #1 in total offense yards per game (387.9), #1 in passing yards (3,353), #2 in passing TDs (30), #3 in points responsible for (200), #5 in completions per game (25.22), #8 in points responsible per game (22.2), #11 in passing yards per completion (14.77), #17 in passing efficiency (162.9) and #18 in yards per pass attempt (9.11). Compared to a year ago, Gabriel in 2020 is averaging 7.07 more completions per game and 55.9 more passing yards per game.
- The turnover game. UCF prospered in great part in 2020 by producing 22 opponent turnovers—to rank number one in the country in that category (tied with Syracuse). The Knights lead the nation in recovering 13 fumbles. UCF is fifth in turnover margin at plus-1.33 per game.
- The Knights beat the teams they should have beaten. UCF this season beat a half-dozen opponents with a combined record of 16-33. Meanwhile, the three Knight losses came to the only three AAC teams ranked ahead of them in league standings—Cincinnati, Tulsa and Memphis, with their combined record of 19-3. UCF produced its fourth road win of the 2020 season Friday at South Florida. The only FBS teams to produce four road wins so far are Coastal Carolina, SMU and Notre Dame—while Louisiana-Lafayette has five.