ORLANDO, Fla. — Talk about your turnarounds.

Seneca Valley graduate Tyler Hudanick has completed a couple of them at the University of Central Florida.

The 6-foot-5, 304-pound junior left guard of the Golden Knights' football team tore the ACL in a knee midway through the 2016 season. That cost him the rest of the regular season and the chance to play in Central Florida's Autonation Cure Bowl game against Arkansas State.

Of course, he came back to a whole lot more.

Hudanick returned to action for Central Florida's seventh game of the season this year, a 73-33 triumph over Austin Peay.

“I played more than 50 percent of the snaps the rest of the season, then got to start and play in the entire bowl game,” Hudanick said.

That was the Peach Bowl game played New Year's Day against Auburn — a 34-27 triumph that completed a perfect 13-0 season for the Golden Knights.

Central Florida, champion of the unheralded American Athletic Conference, defeated the only team to beat Alabama and Georgia — the two teams in the national championship game — and became the only unbeaten Division I college football team this past season.

“In this day and age, that is so hard to do,” Hudanick said of putting together a perfect season. “By the end of the year, we were convinced we could beat anyone in the country.”

Two years ago, as a true freshman, Hudanick started nine of the 10 games he played as UCF stumbled to an 0-12 season. The Golden Knights scored more than 16 points in just two games that season.

“I wasn't sure if I'd play much that year, but our right tackle, Wyatt Miller, got hurt in preseason and I started our first game at right tackle,” Hudanick recalled.

“I guess I played well enough that when Wyatt came back the next week, they moved me to left guard. That's been my position here ever since.”

UCF went from 0-12 in 2015 to 13-0 in 2017, from rarely scoring more than two touchdowns in a game to averaging 48 points per contest this year. The Golden Knights did not score less than 31 points in any one game in 2017.

“They're calling us the biggest turnaround in college football history and I'm proud to be a part of that,” Hudanick said.

“We had our game with Georgia Tech canceled in September because of the hurricane. We went through a lot, but we never lost.”

Before the Peach Bowl, UCF coach Scott Frost —who won national Coach of the Year honors — accepted the head coaching position at Nebraska. He took his entire staff with him.

But they all came back to coach UCF to the bowl victory.

“I have to be honest,” Frost was quoted after the Peach Bowl win. “I didn't think we had a damn chance.”

Hudanick thought differently.

“Yeah, we were a little nervous before the game,” he admitted. “We were playing a powerful team from the SEC, but once the game started, it felt like just another game to me.

“I've lined up against teams like Stanford and Michigan in my career. I felt confident. I felt like we matched up with Auburn.”

A lot of fun has occurred since.

Hudanick and his UCF teammates were treated to a “national championship parade” at Disney World. A block party was thrown for them in downtown Orlando.

“There were thousands of people at both of those,” Hudanick said.

National championship T-shirts have been printed at UCF and the university may have national title rings ordered for the players.

The Golden Knights wound up at No. 6 on the final AP Top 25 poll.

“The university believes we're national champions because we were the lone unbeaten,” Hudanick said. “It's been pretty cool, the way we've been treated. I'll never forget this.”

Hudanick wound up at Central Florida through former UCF tight ends and line coach Allen Mogridge, who is now line coach at Florida International. Mogridge was coaching at Temple when Hudanick was at Seneca Valley and actively recruited him for the Owls.

When Mogridge headed to UCF, he did not forget about Hudanick.

“He suggested the program recruit me down here and the rest is history,” Hudanick said.

He does not belief UCF's football success is history.

Josh Heupel, who won a national championship as quarterback at Oklahoma, is the Golden Knights' new head coach. He was offensive coordinator at Missouri in 2017, where he guided the seventh-ranked offense in the nation to an average of 511 yards per game.

Hudanick is carrying higher than a 3.0 grade point average as a health and exercise science major at Central Florida.

“I am going to graduate,” he said. “I'll be prepared to use my degree, but I do hope to get a shot at the NFL first. I never red-shirted, so next year is it for me. It's a very important year for myself and my football future.

“Most of our starting unit is coming back and I love the new coaching staff that's been put together. We'll be ready to roll again.”