Dec. 15, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. -
By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
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As UCF's players exited the Wayne Densch Sports Center on Tuesday afternoon en route to the busses that would take them to the St. Petersburg Bowl, a message in bold, block letters was affixed for all to see.
It read: ``3 bowl games, 1 championship, 0 bowl wins. Now it's time to change it!''
For a UCF team that finished the season 8-4 and won its last six Conference USA games, the trip to the St. Petersburg Bowl Presented by Beef O'Brady's to face Rutgers (8-4) is a reward for a fine season. But head coach George O'Leary and his staff also made it clear to his players that the five days ahead are a business trip and the only goal should be to come out of Saturday with a victory.
UCF lost the Hawaii Bowl in overtime in 2005 and narrowly fell to Mississippi State in the 2007 Liberty Bowl. So, now the team is heading to St. Pete eager to earn the first bowl victory in school history.
``I've been to many bowls, but as I told the players, going to bowls are nice, but the key is winning them,'' O'Leary said Tuesday just before boarding the bus for St. Pete. ``That's our only goal this weekend - to win the game.''
Two UCF players, fifth-year seniors Cory Hogue and Rocky Ross, were a part of the previous two bowl losses and said that drives them to succeed this time around. Both were a part of the 2007 Conference USA title, but they think a first bowl victory might be even more significant to the school.
``There's a real sense of urgency with guys already in practice,'' said Hogue, UCF's leading tackler from his middle linebacker position. ``Our guys have been really focused all week and we've gotten done what we need to get done. It'll be my last game as a Knight and it will be my third bowl game and we haven't won one yet, so it will be really big to me to win one. I really think to win one would be big for this program and the future for the Knights.''
Hogue said the thought that UCF will have somewhat of a homefield advantage in this game was rammed home on Tuesday when the team didn't have to board a plane for the game. The Knights are also encouraged that UCF expects to have as many as 20,000 fans inside Tropicana Field, which is expected to seat approximately 28,000 for football.
``Our fanbase has done a good job of supporting the bowl,'' O'Leary said. ``And I've been very impressed with St. Petersburg and the committee over there. They are doing everything possible to make it a great experience for the athletes over there. It should be a great outing for UCF.''
O'Leary said another thing that made the St. Pete Bowl appealing to UCF other than geographical reasons is the fact that the game puts the Knights opposite a school from the Big East. UCF will be one of just two C-USA teams facing a team from a BCS-affiliated conference.
Proving themselves to a school from the rival Big East Conference is also a big motivating factor for this game, O'Leary said. At some point down the line, UCF could become an attractive school for the Big East should it ever expand, and O'Leary said that it's never too early to make a good impression.
``I think when the (conference landscape) changes, I think we'll be in a lot of people's thoughts,'' O'Leary said. ``I think as you move up a lot of your marketing problems are solved and a lot of the things that we're fighting to get better at are automatically solved as you move up in stature.
``We have a great opportunity ahead of us with Rutgers because they are a great football team,'' O'Leary continued. ``But when you look at all of the different conferences, the Big East is one with a shortage of football teams and they are looking for people.''
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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.