Central Florida running back Greg McCrae runs untouched for a 14-yard touchdown against Memphis during the first half of the American Athletic Conference championship game Saturday in Orlando, Fla.ORLANDO, Fla. - Central Florida updated its sparkling football résumé Saturday with an impressive 56-41 comeback victory over Memphis in the American Athletic Conference title game.
Now the Knights (11-0) - who proclaimed themselves national champions last January after beating Auburn in the Peach Bowl to finish as the only undefeated team in the Football Bowl Subdivision - will see if repeating as AAC champs and having the nation's longest active winning streak are good enough credentials to get them into the College Football Playoff.
They were eighth in last week's playoff rankings, and the four-team field will be set today, along with the rest of the bowl schedule. Central Florida athletic director Danny White made his opinion clear after the Knights' latest victory.
"Our football team has now won 25 straight games," White said. "They deserve to be in this playoff, and I hope that's a decision that's made. If that does not occur, I think that's another pretty glaring example a four-team playoff is not adequate for the postseason."
Darriel Mack Jr. shrugged off two early turnovers to rush for four second-half touchdowns as the Knights rallied to top the Tigers (8-5) for the fourth time in two seasons.
With the redshirt freshman filling in for injured starting quarterback McKenzie Milton, Central Florida amassed 698 yards of total offense and tightened up on defense after a shaky start to limit Memphis to three points after halftime.
Mack completed 19 of 27 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He began the Knights' comeback from a 17-point halftime deficit with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Otis Anderson and finished the Tigers off with scoring runs of 2, 2, and 5 yards in the fourth quarter.
"Everybody has confidence in (Mack). You saw that tonight," first-year Knights coach Josh Heupel said. "He has a lot of confidence in himself, too."
Greg McCrae rushed for 206 yards and one touchdown for the Knights, who beat the Tigers 62-55 in the 2017 AAC title game and rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to win 31-30 at Memphis during the 2018 regular season.
This time, Central Florida trailed 38-21 at halftime before scoring touchdowns on five straight possessions in the second half.
Darrell Henderson scored on runs of 62, 12 and 82 yards and also threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to help Memphis build its big halftime lead. But the nation's second-leading rusher only gained 3 yards on six carries in the second half, finishing with 210 yards on 16 carries.
"This was a learning experience for us," he said.
Said Memphis coach Mike Norvell: "It was a hard-fought matchup between two really good football teams. They made more plays than we did in the second half. I'm proud of our football team and proud of the way these guys competed this season to help us get to the game. Obviously we're disappointed in the outcome. Whenever you come up short, it hurts everybody."