Winning over the Memphis Tigers in the AAC Championship Game stretched the UCF Knights win streak to 25 games, a feat very few teams have eclipsed. Since 1950, only 12 teams have compiled a win streak greater than 25 games. Some of those win streaks are much larger than UCF’s, like Oklahoma’s 47 game win streak from 1953-1957, while some are much
more similar to UCF’s. Nevertheless, this should not take away from the Knights’ great accomplishment.

Josh Heupel and the rest of the UCF football program understand the significance and difficulty of compiling their win streak, as Heupel exclaimed, “Anyone that’s been involved in college football, I don’t care if you’re coaching or playing, in my opinion should understand how difficult it is to do what these individuals have done over the last 24 months. It’s extremely special. It’s rare.”

Due to the Knights’ success and newfound national spotlight, they’ve withstood every team’s best shot. With that comes plenty of hard-fought games and adversity for the coaches and players. These adversities required the players and coaching staff to rely on each other, bringing the program closer together. Heupel said, “No matter what has hit them adversely, they’ve reacted and responded in a positive way. They draw closer to each other, they believe harder in what we’re doing, they continue to push in a positive way.”  Their reactions to adversities throughout the season speaks volumes about the team chemistry and character inside the UCF locker room.

Of all the Knights’ adversities and challenges throughout the last 24 months, none were greater than their matchup against Memphis in the AAC Championship Game. A slow start for the Knights put them in a large deficit early. Much of this can be contributed to the Memphis running back Darrell Henderson’s show-stopping first half performance, with 190 yards and 3
touchdowns, as well as Mack’s two lost fumbles in the first quarter. Going into halftime, the Knights were down 17 points, their largest deficit of the game, and were only given a 12.5% chance to win.

Momentum was on the Tiger’s side. They had a growing lead going into halftime, and the Knights were missing their Heisman contending quarterback, McKenzie Milton. It had seemed as if the Tigers were about to accomplish a feat that UCF’s last 24 opponents had failed to do. Up by 17 points, silencing the sell-out crowd at Spectrum Stadium- everyone was
shocked- except the UCF Knights.

“Our locker room was extremely calm at halftime. There was a great belief that this is a situation that we’ve already been in,” Heupel proclaimed.

UCF was in a very similar situation almost 2 months prior to the AAC Championship Game. The Knights were down by 16 against the same Memphis Tigers back on October 13th a game in which the Knights scored 17 unanswered points to come back to win in a thrilling 31-30 game.

Coming out of halftime, the Knights were motivated and confident that they could complete the same task they had accomplished in their prior 24 games – win. Scoring on their first two possessions brought the Knights within 3 points, electrifying the 45,301 fans in attendance. A motivated Knights squad and an electrified fan base combined to lead UCF to a
56-41 victory, outscoring the Tigers 35-3 in the second half.

Following the thunderous comeback win, the Knights wasted no time tributing their victory to the injured Milton. Immediately after the game, Darriel Mack Jr. said, “I ain’t care what I had to do. We were going to go out there and win the game for 10.” Mack’s sentiment was evident from the onset of the game, as Milton’s number, 10, was combined with “ohana,”
to create the phrase “10hana.” UCF placed this phrase on the back of each helmet. Signs incorporating “10hana” were visible from almost every section throughout the stadium as well. Paying tribute to Milton’s Hawaiian heritage, fans were given leis as they walked through the gates of the stadium, and many players and coaches chose to wear leis throughout the game. Looking across the stadium, without a word said, it was clear who the Knights were playing for – McKenzie Milton.

“Ohana,” from the Hawaiian language, means family, the perfect word to describe the UCF football program. Everyone involved in the program feels like family, from the players to the coaching staff, to even the fans.

Over the past 25 games, UCF’s great team chemistry has been very apparent in the way they interact with each other on and off the field. Josh Heupel said, “There is a deep love inside of the locker room for one another, coaches and players alike.” The connection between the UCF players and coaches is a large contributor to their historic win streak, as it as helped
them fight through adversity and lean on each other in times of need.

UCF safety, Richie Grant stated, “Since the new staff got in here, they’ve been putting us in adverse situations and seeing how we handle it. It didn’t start off well, but you see the outcome of that. We’ve been doing really good, we’re playing for each other.”

Later, Grant continued to say, “The bond we have on this team is real, and it’s unexplainable.”

The genuine bond amongst the players and coaches creates an atmosphere that few college football programs have. This bond is envied by the vast majority of programs across the country. The unique chemistry within the UCF locker room combined with the blue collar
mentality of the players and coaches created a win streak infamous across college football for many years to come.