2018 Peach Bowl (January)

MVP	McKenzie Milton (QB, UCF) & Shaquem Griffin (LB, UCF)

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 (automatically qualifying as the highest ranked conference champion team from the "Group of Five" conferences) 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 (as the Knights were then known as) by a score of 28–10 on November 6, 1999, in Auburn.

Game summary

McKenzie Milton 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

• 
  Auburn's Field Goal at the end of the First Half
• 
  UCF's First Field Goal

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP UCF AUB 1 7:01 9 43 3:51 AUB 25-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson 0 3 2 11:11 12 48 3:04 UCF 33-yard field goal by Matthew Wright 3 3 2 8:51 2 21 0:47 UCF McKenzie Milton 18-yard touchdown run, Matthew Wright kick good 10 3 2 0:45 15 62 4:16 AUB 45-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson 10 6 2 0:00 15 42 0:45 UCF 45-yard field goal by Matthew Wright 13 6 3 14:05 2 26 0:43 AUB Will Hastings 26-yard touchdown reception from Jarrett Stidham, Daniel Carlson kick good 13 13 3 7:55 10 82 3:37 AUB Kerryon Johnson 4-yard touchdown run, Daniel Carlson kick good 13 20 3 1:30 7 65 2:44 UCF Otis Anderson 12-yard touchdown reception from McKenzie Milton, Matthew Wright kick good 20 20 4 11:36 8 59 3:17 UCF Dredrick Snelson 8-yard touchdown reception from McKenzie Milton, Matthew Wright kick good 27 20 4 5:56 UCF Interception returned 45 yards for touchdown by Chequan Burkett, Matthew Wright kick good 34 20 4 4:12 6 89 1:37 AUB Eli Stove 7-yard touchdown run, Daniel Carlson kick good 34 27 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 34 27

Statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Knights	0	13	7	14	34
No. 7 Tigers	3	3	14	7	27

Statistics	UCF	AUB
First downs	20	28
Plays–yards	71–411	87–421
Rushes–yards	36–169	44–90
Passing yards	242	331
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	16–35–0	28–43–2
Time of possession	25:45	34:15

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UCF	Passing	McKenzie Milton	16/35, 242 yds, 2 TD
	Rushing	McKenzie Milton	13 car, 116 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Tre'Quan Smith	5 rec, 89 yds
AUB	Passing	Jarrett Stidham	28/43, 331 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Kerryon Johnson	23 car, 71 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Ryan Davis	8 rec, 47 yds