In collaboration with M!KEDROPSPORTS
PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
UCF Knights (12-0) vs LSU Tigers (9-3)
Date: Tuesday, January 1st at 12 pm CT
Location: State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ
Bowl history
Originated: 1998
Fiesta Bowl history
Teams that are currently considered “Group of Five” are 5-1 in the Fiesta Bowl while SEC teams are just 1-4 (last win was Tennessee in 1999)
Last year’s result: Penn State beat Washington 35-28
UCF bowl history
This is UCF’s second Fiesta Bowl appearance. In fact, they beat Baylor as the at-large Big East champion in 2014, the final year of the old BCS system. In total, UCF is 2-0 in BCS/New Year’s Six bowls as they won the Peach Bowl last year over Auburn.
Overall, UCF is 4-5 in bowl games as well as 2-1 against SEC teams. Their wins include 2018 Peach versus Auburn, 2010 Liberty versus Georgia, and a loss in 2007 to Mississippi State in the Liberty Bowl.
UCF’s last bowl loss was also their last overall loss, in the 2016 Cure Bowl to Arkansas State.
LSU bowl history
This will be LSU’s first Fiesta Bowl appearance and their first New Year’s Six bowl game since 2012 when they played Clemson in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.
LSU has lost nine of their last 10 January 1st bowl games. They are 8-13 all-time in January 1st bowl games and are 1-9 in the last 10, dating back to the 1971 Orange Bowl. They did win their last New Year’s Day game, in 2014 against Iowa in the Outback Bowl.
LSU’s last two bowl games have both been in the Citrus Bowl – they lost to Notre Dame last year and beat Louisville in 2016.
LSU has never played an AAC team or any “group of five” team in a bowl game.
Series history
The Fiesta Bowl will be the first all-time meeting between these schools.
Game Notes
Players to Watch
UCF: Greg McCrae – Running back
LSU: Joe Burrow – Quarterback
UCF 2018 Season
UCF comes into this game with a 25 game winning streak. Despite beating “no one” over that time, UCF has knocked off #5 Auburn, #24 Cincinnati, Memphis as well as 2018 ACC coastal champion Pittsburgh.
The Knights average double the points per game on offense (44) than they allow defensively (21). Not having quarterback McKenzie Milton will be tough, but this team has basically battled adversity for 25 straight games.
Milton’s replacement, Darriel Mack has completed 40-70 passes this year for 522 yards with two touchdowns along with zero interceptions. He has also run for six touchdowns while averaging 5.9 yards per
LSU 2018 Season
LSU handed Georgia their only regular season
Joe Burrow, who transferred from Ohio State before the season, filled in nicely at quarterback for the Tigers. Burrow combined for 19 total touchdowns (12 passing, seven rushing) and threw just four interceptions. Certainly a key part of LSU’s success was being able to protect the football.
For the first time in what feels like a long time, LSU had more success throwing the ball than running it. Running back Nick Brossette did finish the year with 14 touchdowns and ran for under 1,000 yards while averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
Final Analysis
The Fiesta Bowl comes down to two things. For LSU, how motivated will they be? Will they suffer the same fatigue that we hear whenever an SEC team loses to a Group of Five
For UCF, they made an incredible comeback in the AAC Championship against Memphis without their star quarterback McKenzie Milton. That was Memphis. As great as UCF is, if they go down by 14 or more points, it will be hard to overcome that against LSU’s highly ranked defense.
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