ATLANTA — UCF didn’t beat Auburn, 34-27, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Monday because it was the faster team.
If anything, a footrace would have probably ended in a tie.
Rather, the Knights finished the season undefeated by executing better than the Tigers. They were the more prepared team to start the game, and they were the more poised team throughout, responding to 14 unanswered points to start the second half with 21 unanswered points of their own.
Auburn, which played in fits and starts, struggled to find any consistency offensively. The line faltered time and time again as quarterback Jarrett Stidham was knocked around to the tune of six sacks and many more hurries.