BOWL HISTORY
2009 ST. PETERSBURG BOWL
RUTGERS UCF DECEMBER 19, 2009 TROPICANA FIELD
45 23 ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The St. Petersburg Bowl presented what seemed to be a perfect storm for UCF, what with 20,000 of its fans packed inside Tropicana Field and a hot football team positioned for the first bowl victory in school history. But an avalanche of errors combined with speedy, physical opponent in Rutgers ruined what could have been a dreamy, feel-good night for UCF’s program and its hopeful fanbase. Down four points late in the second quarter, UCF allowed an interception return to sap its momentum and the Knights could never mount much of a comeback in a disappointing 45-24 loss to Rutgers in the second St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef `O’ Brady’s. UCF (8-5) had hoped that the momentum of a strong finish to the regular season, one in which it won the final six conference games and knocked off Marshall, Houston and UAB down the stretch, would carry over to the bowl game. But problems on both sides of the ball sabotaged the Knights’ chances of pulling off the upset in this game. UCF netted just 35 yards on the ground, 33 of them coming in the fourth quarter when the outcome of the game was already decided. And in the passing game, two Brett Hodges’ interceptions led to 14 points for Rutgers, bowl winners for a fourth consecutive season. And UCF’s defense yielded 380 yards and eight third-down conversions. Playing before roughly 20,000 Knights fans among the Tropicana Field crowd of 29,763, UCF had hopes of capturing the first bowl victory in school history. In a bowl game for the third time in five years, UCF lost previously in 2005 in the Hawaii Bowl (49-48 OT) and in the 2007 Liberty Bowl (10-3). ``The offense put up 14 points and a field goal early and defensively we played our butts off. We didn’t want to go out like this, and this is so disappointing,’’ senior defensive tackle Travis Timmons said. ``It’s just such a big letdown. We’re 0-14 now against Big East teams and 0-3 in bowl games. Torell (Troup), Bruce (Miller) and myself along the defensive line wanted to change all of that, but unfortunately things didn’t go the way we wanted them to.’’ Rutgers (9-4) played like an experienced team in its fifth consecutive bowl, using big plays on offense and an attacking defense to frustrate the Knights. Rutgers got six sacks and two interceptions defensively and freshman quarterback Tom Savage threw for 294 yards and two TDs. Said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano: ``We’ve been to five straight bowls with four straight wins in bowl games. You have to be consistent before you can be great. We’ll be great someday.’’ The most devastating play of the night came just before the half when Hodges, the quarterback who UCF head coach George O’Leary called the unquestioned MVP of the season, erred on a short route to A.J. Guyton. His pass was picked off by cornerback Billy Anderson and returned 19 yards for a score that put Rutgers up 28-17 at the half. ``That play really hurt us. A.J. and I had a miscommunication and he did the right thing and I was wrong,’’ said Hodges, who passed for 175 yards and two scores to Kamar Aiken. ``Then, they started really bringing the pressure and made it tough on us.’’ UCF had been fairly good all season when trailing at the half, going 4-4 in those eight games. But on this night there would be no comeback because of the Knights’ inability to run the ball or get defensive stops on third down. Any chance UCF had of rallying back for the victory ended late in the third quarter when Jonathan Davis was stopped short on a fourth-and-1 run near midfield. After that carry, UCF stood at minus-one yard rushing on its first 19 carries. UCF tailback Brynn Harvey hoped to have a big game playing near his hometown of Largo. However, the sophomore back, who ran for 1,077 yards and 14 touchdowns on the season, was bottled up all night by a physical Rutgers’ defense that ranked 20th in the nation against the run. He finished with just 32 yards on 13 carries and no run was longer than nine yards. ``It was just really frustrating not being able to run the ball and seeing our quarterback get hit a lot in the game,’’ Harvey said. ``And it’s disappointing because I had a lot of friends and family at the game and I feel like I let all of them down. Aiken caught his eighth and ninth touchdowns of the season and was named 188
UCF’s Most Outstanding Player for the Game. Multi-purpose back-wide out Mohamed Sanu was voted Rutgers’ Most Outstanding Player. Rutgers led the nation in turnover margin this season (plus-20), and it showed why in the first half by picking off two Hodges’ passes and converting both of them into touchdowns. Those 14 points proved to be the difference early on as Rutgers led 28-17 at the half. UCF started the game with loads of momentum, getting an electrifying 65yard kickoff return from freshman Quincy McDuffie. But the promise of that start ended when Rutgers’ linebacker Damaso Munoz intercepted a Hodges’ pass and returned it to the 46-yard line. Eight plays later, the Scarlett Knights were in the end zone and led 7-0. UCF caught a big break via a turnover when A.J. Bouye recovered a Sanu fumble at the 9-yard line. This time, Hodges hit Kamar Aiken on a slant pass for a 7-yard score. Again, any momentum UCF had was snatched away by Rutgers. Tim Brown, a Miami speedster, took a short pass 65 yards for a score that put Rutgers back up 14-7. ‘`The whole first half we didn’t make plays and that just came back to really haunt us,’’ UCF defensive end Bruce Miller said. ``We just have to learn to fight harder in those situations and get off the field on third down.’’ After the two teams traded scores, UCF clawed back to within 21-17 when Hodges again hit Aiken in the corner of the end zone for a score. And the Knights got a stop on the following possession, giving them the ball back at the 13-yard line with 1:46 remaining in the half. But disaster struck again when Hodges’ hurried throw was snagged by Rutgers’ cornerback Billy Anderson and returned 19 yards for a score that put the Scarlett Knights up 11 points at the half. ``You can’t give a team 14 points and that’s what we did in the first half,’’ O’Leary said. ``We threw a pick on the 11 and then that one for seven (points). You can’t do that and overcome it. And then in the second half I don’t think our offense did anything at all except lose ground. That was very disappointing. And defensively we were just on the field too long.’’
Brett Hodges
ST. PETERSBURG BOWL POSTGAME NOTES Team Notes • UCF processed and allocated 15,402 tickets for the St. Petersburg Bowl, encompassing a total of four separate blocks of tickets given to the school. The announced attendance Saturday was 29,763, with approximately 20,000 UCF fans in the stands. • For the second time in three years, UCF sold its entire allotment for a bowl game and was part of a record crowd. At the 2007 AutoZone Liberty Bowl, UCF also sold its full allotment of 10,000 tickets, and the game’s attendance of 63,816 was a Liberty Bowl record. • The UCF Pregame Tailgate Party staged by the UCF Alumni Association and UCF Athletics was also a sold-out event with 1,000 tickets distributed. • UCF’s fourth-best rushing defense in the nation limited Rutgers to just 86 yards on the ground. The Scarlet Knights entered the game averaging 138.4 yards per contest. • UCF committed just five penalties. It had just 52 penalties in 13 games in 2009 (4.0 average). • With Rutgers’ interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter, it was the first UCF allowed since 2007 when current Philadelphia Eagle Quintin Demps of UTEP had one on Nov. 24, 2007. Individual Notes • Junior Kamar Aiken tied for the game-high with four receptions and had two touchdowns. He was named UCF’s Most Outstanding Player of the game. Wide receiver Mohamed Sanu was voted as Rutgers’ MOP. • Aiken’s two first-half touchdown receptions gave him nine on the year, the most by a UCF receiver since Brandon Marshall (11) and Mike Sims-Walker (9) in 2005. • Meanwhile, Aiken’s nine TDs moved him into a tie for ninth on the UCF singleseason chart. • Sophomore Brynn Harvey had 13 rushing attempts, capping off 2009 with 261 carries, good for third on UCF’s single-season chart. • Senior quarterback Brett Hodges wrapped up the 2009 campaign with two more touchdown passes, giving him 17 on the year, the most since Steven Moffett who had 22 in 2005. • Sophomore quarterback Rob Calabrese entered in the fourth quarter and went 5-for-7 for 45 yards, and also rushed for a 30-yard gain on a third-down conversion, on his first drive. That set up a two-yard touchdown run by freshman Jonathan Davis. • Freshman Quincy McDuffie returned the opening kickoff 65 yards, his secondlongest of the season (95 yards vs. Samford Sept. 5). It also marked a St. Petersburg Bowl record. • McDuffie registered 171 kickoff return yards on six returns, the eighth-most yards in a game by a Knight. He posted 944 return yardsin 2009, just eight yards shy of tying the single-season record (952 by Ted Wilson in 1984). • McDuffie’s six kickoff returns tied for the fourth-most in a game, while his 39 returns in 2009 were one short of Wilson’s record of 40 in 1984. • Senior Rocky Ross hauled in four receptions for 49 yards. The Jacksonville native ensured himself of posting at least one catch in each of UCF’s three bowl games. Ross ended his career with 157 receptions for 1,984 yards. • Kemal Ishmael intercepted his first-career pass in the third quarter. He became the second true freshman (Josh Robinson who has six) to pick off a pass in 2009. Seven of UCF’s 12 interceptions came from true freshmen. • Junior Bruce Miller recorded his 13th sack of 2009, tying for the third most in a single-season in program history.
Rocky Ross
BOX SCORE UCF Rutgers 1st 8:37 RUT 4:31 UCF 3:54 RUT 2nd 14:56 UCF 5:50 RUT 2:32 UCF 1:38 RUT 3rd 12:37 RUT 8:09 RUT 4th 2:23 UCF 2:18 RUT
7 14
10 14
0 10
7 7
-
24 45
Sanu 5 run (Te kick) Aiken 7 pass from Hodges (Cattoi kick) Brown 65 pass from Savage (Te kick) Cattoi 25 field goal Sanu 1 run (Te kick) Aiken 34 pass from Hodges (Cattoi kick) Anderson 19 interception return (Te kick) Sanu 11 pass from Savage (Te kick) Te 43 field goal Davis 2 run (Cattoi kick) Munoz 35 kickoff return (Te kick)
FIRST DOWNS RUSHES-YARDS (NET) PASSING YDS (NET) Passes Att-Comp-Int TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS Fumble Returns-Yards Punt Returns-Yards Kickoff Returns-Yards Interception Returns-Yards Punts (Number-Avg) Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Possession Time Third-Down Conversions Fourth-Down Conversions Red-Zone Scores-Chances Sacks By: Number-Yards
UCF 14 30-35 220 35-18-2 65-255 0-0 1-11 8-208 1-0 8-39.2 0-0 5-45 28:53 4 of 15 0 of 1 3-3 1-8
RUT 15 32-86 294 28-14-1 60-380 0-0 2-5 4-101 2-45 4-39.5 2-1 10-80 31:07 8 of 15 0 of 0 3-3 6-36
RUSHING: UCF-HARVEY, Brynn 13-32; Calabrese, Rob 4-26; Kelly, Brendan 1-4; Davis, Jonathan 7-1; Hodges, Brett 5-minus 28. RUTGERS-MARTINEK, Joe 14-44; SANU, Mohamed 13-41; BROOKS, Jourdan 1-4; TEAM 1-minus 1; SAVAGE, Tom 3-minus 2. PASSING: UCF-HODGES, Brett 13-28-2-175; Calabrese, Rob 5-7-0-45. RUTGERS-SAVAGE, Tom 14-27-1-294; SANU, Mohamed 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING: UCF-AIKEN, Kamar 4-65; Ross, Rocky 4-49; Davis, Jonathan 3-29; Guyton, A.J. 2-13; MCDUFFIE, Q. 1-22; Nissley, Adam 1-18; Kay, Ricky 1-12; Harvey, Brynn 1-7; Newsome, Jamar 1-5. RUTGERS-BROWN, Tim 4-99; SANU, Mohamed 4-97; MARTINEK, Joe 3-66; HARRISON, Mark 2-15; GRAVES, Shamar 1-17. INTERCEPTIONS: UCF-ISHMAEL, Kemal 1-0. RUTGERS-MUNOZ, Damaso 1-26; ANDERSON, Billy 1-19. FUMBLES: UCF-None. RUTGERS-SANU, Mohamed 2-1. Stadium: Tropicana Field Attendance: 29,763
Kamar Aiken 189