2018 Peach Bowl (January)


The 2018 Peach Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2018, between the UCF Knights and the Auburn Tigers. It was the 50th edition of the Peach Bowl, and the first Peach Bowl to be played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, after spending the previous 25 editions in the now demolished Georgia Dome. The 50th Peach Bowl was one of the College Football Playoff New Year's Six bowl games, and was one of the 2017–18 bowl games concluding the 2017 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Chick-fil-A restaurant franchise, the game was officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
The game was televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and broadcast on ESPN Radio and XM Satellite Radio.

Teams

The two participants for the game were the UCF Knights and the Auburn Tigers.
Entering the game, the Tigers led the all-time series with the Knights, 3–0; the most recent matchup saw the Tigers defeat the Golden Knights by a score of 28–10 on November 6, 1999, in Auburn.

Game summary

had a breakout game for the UCF Knights with 245 passing yards throwing for two touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. Jarrett Stidham had 331 passing yards throwing for one touchdown with two interceptions. UCF had 411 total yards compared to Auburn Tigers 421 total yards. However, the Tigers had three turnovers with Knights only having one. Shaquem Griffin had 12 tackles and one and a half sacks in the win for the Knights. Griffin was later named the game's defensive MVP, with Milton the offensive MVP.

Scoring summary

Statistics

StatisticsUCFAUB
First downs2028
Plays–yards71–41187–421
Rushes–yards36–16944–90
Passing yards242331
Passing: Comp–Att–Int16–35–028–43–2
Time of possession25:4534:15

TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
UCFPassingMcKenzie Milton16/35, 242 yds, 2 TD
UCFRushingMcKenzie Milton13 car, 116 yds, 1 TD
UCFReceivingTre'Quan Smith5 rec, 89 yds
AUBPassingJarrett Stidham28/43, 331 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
AUBRushingKerryon Johnson23 car, 71 yds, 1 TD
AUBReceivingRyan Davis8 rec, 47 yds