UCF faces Navy, aiming for fourth win in a row

The No. 17 Central Florida Knights have recovered from last month’s surprising loss at East Carolina and find themselves controlling their own destiny when it comes to hosting the American Athletic Conference championship game in two weeks.

The next step is beating Navy at home at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

“This is obviously a very, very important game,” UCF coach Gus Malzahn said. “Tough, tough task. You’re talking about a team that had a chance to beat Notre Dame last week. They got after them really good in the second half. It went down to the very end. We know we’re going to get their best.”

Navy (3-7, 3-4 AAC) lost 35-32 to No. 20 Notre Dame last week.

The Midshipmen outscored the Fighting Irish 19-0 and outgained them 116 yards to 12 during the second half.

UCF (8-2, 5-1), meanwhile, won its third straight by beating thenNo. 16 Tulane 38-31 on the road.

Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee returned from a concussion sustained last month against Cincinnati and accounted for 308 yards of total offense and three touchdowns.

The Knights are also in good position to be the highest-ranked, nonPower 5 conference champion if they win out, which carries a guaranteed New Year’s Day 6 bowl game.

“It is in our grasp,” Knights wide receiver Ryan O’Keefe said. “We’re just going to focus and take it one game at a time.”

UCF defensive back Quadric Bullard is out for the season with a knee injury.

“He was an impact player on defense, special teams, punt block and all that,” Malzahn said. “That’s a big blow. There’s no doubt.”