Dec. 13, 2010
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By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Latavius Murray stepped to the podium, lifted Conference USA's Most Valuable Player trophy high overhead, and as a torrent of emotions coursed through his body and tears filled his eyes, all of the pain and indecision from the past were washed away.
Roughly 100 yards away - or about the distance that Murray had run for a couple of weeks ago to give UCF the C-USA championship - sat Murray's mom, the woman most responsible for making this day possible for her son.
As Tawanna Wright looked on as her son accepted the MVP trophy for his dazzling two-touchdown effort in UCF's 17-7 defeat of SMU, thoughts of Murray's devastating knee injury a year earlier and his contemplations of transferring from UCF were both prevalent and never further away.
It was Wright who encouraged Murray daily throughout his rehabilitation following knee surgery and she was also the one who talked him out of a potential transfer from UCF to Syracuse. As she wiped the tears of joy away, she chuckled at how fate had smiled on her son.
``I was absolutely overwhelmed with joy. It's hard to fathom after all he's been through, but it just shows us again that God is good,'' Wright said recently. ``Latavius has been so excited about this opportunity and he was so focused. He's prayed a lot about it and God made it happen for him.''
Murray, a prototypical workhorse tailback at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, is central now to UCF's hopes of winning its first-ever bowl game when it faces Georgia in the Dec. 31 Liberty Bowl. The redshirt sophomore's late-season emergence as UCF's starting tailback keyed a run to 10 victories, a second conference championship in four years and a spot in the Liberty Bowl opposite of traditional Southeastern Conference power, Georgia.
Being in this position certainly isn't lost on Murray, a thoughtful sort who is well aware of how far he's come in a year's time. The fact that he went from being out injured with a torn ACL, to being moved to H-back, switched back to tailback, a starter by the 11th game of the season and ultimately the MVP of the championship game wasn't lost on him.
``I got a ring for going to the bowl game last year, but really being a part of this team and being able to play means so much more to me,'' Murray said. ``When you think about where I was and how serious my injury was, I'm really blessed. There's not a minute that I don't thank God for it. I've come a long way and I'll never forget this season.''
There are certainly were many memorable moments. Switched from blocking back to tailback following the season-ending injury to Brynn Harvey, Murray proved himself to be a threat as a solid backup and steady goal line threat behind then-starter Ronnie Weaver. Even as a backup, Murray's rare combination of size, speed and power were evident in the way he regularly gashed defenses.
``We started running some of the plays that he's good at ... the off-tackle runs and the outside plays. He was able to get some confidence in some of those games that were lopsided and that does wonders for a kid,'' UCF coach George O'Leary said. ``I'm a big believer that confidence and success go hand-in-hand. It helped him seeing himself on film doing a lot of good things and making some cuts. And the kid took the opportunity and ran with it.''
Did he ever! Murray ran well enough that he was promoted to the starting tailback job in the 11th game of the season against Tulane. In his first-ever collegiate start, Murray delivered with his first 100-yard rushing day to help the Knights shred Tulane 61-14. He had a 46-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and needed just nine carries to top 100 yards. He finished with 146 yards, showing that he could be UCF's featured back and a potential star.
``I was just so happy and proud of myself to come from not playing and hurt last year to doing this now,'' Murray said. ``I love running back and playing that position, and I'm so happy they put me back at that spot.''
Murray again made a huge impact in the C-USA title game for the Knights. He caught his first-ever touchdown pass by hauling in a short throw from quarterback Jeff Godfrey and beating two defenders to the corner to get the Knights off to a 7-0 lead. Later, Murray basically sealed the victory by taking a simple off-tackle play for an explosive run that covered 36 yards. The run looked eerily similar to UCF great Kevin Smith because of Murray's upright running style and his ability to use both power and speed in the midst of the same carry.
For the season, Murray averaged a whopping 5.7 yards a carry and his nose for the end zone was displayed in his 10 rushing touchdowns on just 93 carries. His emergence allowed UCF to become one of just two teams in the country (Wisconsin is the other) to have three players with 10 or more rushing touchdowns. Weaver has 11, while Murray and Godfrey both ran for 10 scores.
It's another accomplishment for a player who thought he might never get a chance to make his mark at UCF. But when Murray pushed that MVP trophy high overhead following the title game the first thing he did was seek out his parents, wanting them to know full well that they played a major role in his rise to stardom at UCF.
``There were tears in my eyes, there really were and I was just speechless,'' Murray said afterwards. ``I just wanted to go give my mom and father a hug. I love those two to death and I wouldn't be here without them.''
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John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFAthletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.