Defense makes stop to win victory, title
As each UCF player piled on higher and higher, Tre Neal could feel his shoulder pads tighten up around his neck at the bottom of the celebration.
Still, the man who made the game-winning interception against Memphis was feeling no pain.
“Ah man, I caught it and I fell to the ground, then I got up and I was like, ‘We just won,’ ” the junior safety said of UCF’s 62-55 double-overtime victory in the American Athletic Conference championship game at Spectrum Stadium.
“Once I thought that, I was getting swarmed and I’m on the bottom of the pile, everybody’s happy, people crying. It’s one of those things I will never forget the rest of my life.”
He did admit, however, that as each of his giant UCF teammates jumped the pile, things started getting a little sketchy at the bottom.
“The more and more people piled on, I could start feeling the weight, squishing and squishing my pads. It was the greatest feeling in my life, man,” Neal continued. “I’d never trade it for anything else. My pads started actually getting up around my neck and I was like [choking noise], but it was all worth it.”
At times, however, it didn’t exactly look like there was going to be a UCF celebration. The offense was doing its part early in the game, scoring on its first three possessions, but the UCF defense couldn’t slow down the visiting Tigers.
UCF came into the season with the front line being its best defensive unit. In the past few games, the pass rush has been lackluster and the ability for teams to make big plays has been partly due to the lack of pressure up front. Sure, Memphis had some big plays Saturday, but UCF’s defense also made plays. The Knights sacked Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson four times, their first four-sack game of the season, and they also had four more tackles for loss.
Defensive tackle Trystan Hill said opposing offenses schemed to stop the UCF penetration.
“With the big plays, we understand we need to put that behind us,” Hill said. “Teams understand the defensive line is an actual threat, so they’ve been maxprotecting against us.
“They’re not giving [UCF] those one-on-ones, so with the double teams we realized we had to come up with enough to help out our secondary and do whatever it took.”
When UCF did make defensive stops, the offense sputtered and three firsthalf turnovers allowed Memphis to hang close and even take a 34-21 halftime lead.
“It’s just one of those things where we love each other a lot and we know we’re not perfect people. We’re gonna mess up,” Neal said. “I think that’s the difference between now and that 0-12 season, when everybody would get mad and we would fight.
“The coaches have instilled in us to love each other, so once somebody messes up, it’s next play, you know, who cares. We’re gonna play and keep fighting. We know the offense is going to score.”
They kept fighting for each other even when the UCF defense botched assignments. After taking a 48-34 lead early in the fourth quarter, the UCF defense allowed a 66-yard touchdown run by Memphis’ Tony Pollard. The Knights didn’t get down on each other.
“We know we were beating ourselves the whole game,” UCF defensive tackle Jamiyus Pittman said. “Don’t get me wrong, Memphis has a strong offense, but we knew if we fixed the little mistakes, it would have an impact late in the game, and it did on Tre Neal’s interception.”