They played their home games at Spectrum Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and were led by first-year head coach Josh Heupel.

The 2018 campaign began with the Knights attempting to defend their AAC championship, as well as extend the nation's longest active winning streak, which stood at 13 games.

Backup quarterback Darriel Mack Jr. took over for the remainder of that game, and subsequently led the team to victory in the AAC championship.

Quarterback Running back Wide receiver Kicker Placekicker Punter Tight end Offensive lineman Defensive lineman Inside linebacker Outside linebacker Linebacker Defensive back Long snappers Head coaches Offensive coaches Defensive coaches Special teams Administrative staff The UCF Knights, ranked 21st in the preseason AP Poll, opened the season on the road on Thursday night against division rival UConn, a matchup once briefly known as the Civil Conflict.

The start of the game was marred after Knights defensive back Aaron Robinson was injured on the opening kickoff and removed by ambulance.

[17] The Knights defense forced three turnovers, including a key interception at their own 10-yard line to snuff out a potential scoring drive by the Huskies just before halftime.

The UCF Knights shutout South Carolina State 38–0 to extend the nation's longest winning streak to 15 games.

Then the UCF defense thwarted a strong Pitt offensive drive when Richie Grant intercepted Kenny Pickett at the 8 yard line, snuffing out a potential Panthers score.

Milton was back in at quarterback in the third quarter, and led the Knights on an 11-play, 88-yard drive, capped off by a dramatic 1-yard touchdown run by defensive lineman Trysten Hill.

In the closing two minutes, the Knights drove to the Memphis 27 yard line, and Matthew Wright kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired.

At the 7 yard line with 12:14 remaining in regulation, Milton scrambled to the endzone, was hit by a defender, flipped into the air, but crossed the plane for the score.

[23] The UCF coaching staff created a stir with an unexpected game-time decision to bench quarterback McKenzie Milton for an undisclosed injury.

On their next drive at the ECU 42 yard line, Mack lateraled the ball to Quadry Jones who threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Adrian Killins Jr. ECU fumbled away the ball near midfield, and Mack led UCF on a 10-play drive capped off by a 7-yard touchdown on a quarterback run.

In the third quarter, East Carolina went on a 10-play, 86-yard drive resulting in a 29-yard touchdown pass from Holton Ahlers to Trevon Brown to trim the lead to 20–10.

As time expired in the third quarter, Knights punter Mac Loudermilk pinned the Pirates back inside their own 1 yard line.

Anthony Russo was intercepted with an over-the-shoulder diving catch by Knights defender Nevelle Clarke, for the game's first turnover.

Russo threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Ventell Bryant, but Temple's game-tying two-point conversion attempt was stuffed a half yard short of the goal line.

[25] The victory, coupled with a loss by Houston two days later, gave UCF the lead in most intra-conference game wins in AAC history (since 2013).

In the second quarter, the Midshipmen went on a ten-play drive, reaching the UCF 3, but a false start penalty followed by an incompletion resulted in Navy managing only a field goal.

UCF looked to tack on another touchdown just before halftime, but with 14 seconds remaining, running back Taj McGowan fumbled away the ball at the Navy 13 yard line.

This was the second consecutive years the Knights hosted the Tigers in the conference championship game, and fourth meeting between the two schools in the past two seasons.

Facing 3rd & Goal at the 6, Mack ran up the middle for an apparent touchdown, but the ball was fumbled and bouncing live into the endzone, dangerously close to going out-of-bounds.

With 21 seconds left in the half, Darrell Henderson connected with Sean Dykes for a 4-yard touchdown pass, and the Tigers led 38–21 at halftime.

Later, Memphis managed to drive to the UCF 2 yard line, but Brady White's pass to the endzone fell incomplete off the fingertips of Damonte Coxie as he hit the ground.

During the return, defensive lineman Joey Connors made a legal blindside block on Burrow, sending him to the ground, but he was able to recover.

Kyle Gibson sacked quarterback Joe Burrow for a 6-yard loss, but Knights defender Randy Charlton was subsequently flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after spiking the ball.

Driving across midfield in the closing seconds of the first quarter, quarterback Darriel Mack Jr. was tackled on a run, and fumbled the ball, and LSU recovered.

Facing a 3rd down & 14 at the LSU 32 yard line, Mack threw a touchdown pass to Gabe Davis at the back of the endzone with 4 seconds left.

With 3:56 left in the third quarter, Mack Loudermilk's punt was muffed by Tigers return man Justin Jefferson, and UCF recovered at the 20 yard line.

With 20 seconds left, Mack's pass attempt deflected off of players, and was intercepted by JaCoby Stevens to seal the win for LSU.