UCF's Milton injury muddles rematch with Memphis

Memphis coach Mike Norvell called over the AAC representative while his team gathered after their 52-31 win over Houston on Friday at the Liberty Bowl.

"Right here," Norvell said, directing him.

The representative came over and said the words that few outside the Tigers' circle expected to hear in November.

"Congratulations, you are the West Division champions."

It was sweet relief for a Tigers team left for dead after consecutive losses to Central Florida and Missouri. Now comes the final hurdle with another meeting with No. 8 UCF in the AAC championship game on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Orlando.

"It sets up for a classic game," said Norvell, who set a Memphis (8-4, 5-3) record with 26 wins over a three-year span. "We're going to go to put our best foot forward and go compete for a conference championship."

Although Memphis will face UCF for the fourth time in 15 months, Saturday's game will have a different mood after UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton suffered a severe leg injury against South Florida on Friday.

Milton, the reigning AAC Offensive Player of the Year, left the game with 11 minutes to go in the second quarter. He gave Memphis a struggle the past two meetings, throwing for 296 yards and

running for the go-ahead touchdown during the Knights' win over Memphis in October.

He also had 494 yards and five touchdowns in last year's AAC title game against the Tigers.

UCF (11-0, 8-0) rallied behind backup quarterback Darriel Mack to win 38-10 over South Florida to improve its winning streak to 24 games.

It's the second consecutive week that Memphis will likely face a team without its starting quarterback. Houston played without D'Eriq King, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Tulane on Nov. 15.

Memphis has lost 12 consecutive games to UCF, which is ranked No. 9 in this week's College Football Playoff rankings.

Regardless of who will be under center for UCF, several Memphis players said Friday that they plan on continuing to work and prepare as they've done during this fourgame winning streak.

"Just being able to play for a championship, it doesn't change our focus," defensive lineman Joseph Dorceus said. "To be able to play against UCF, it feels good.