Nov. 13, 2010
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By Brittany Dixon
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Nineteen seniors stepped on the field at Bright House Networks Stadium today for the last regular-season home game of their college careers. The moment was bittersweet. UCF lost to Southern Miss, 31-21, after an explosive first quarter.
Despite the loss, the Knights are bowl eligible and still plan to go to the Conference USA Championship and win, resulting in an appearance in the Liberty Bowl.
"Our mindset is still the same when it comes to the conference championship," senior wide receiver Jamar Newsome said. "It is just tough having a loss on our schedule. We know that we have to come out and win these next two games. There still a good chance we can end up playing here again in Bright House Stadium for the championship. We're not losing sight of our goals at all. We'll have to come out this week and really work and we'll see how bad we really want it."
While this was the last regular-season home game for these 19 seniors, it was the first time a UCF senior class has played their final home game as a top-25 team.
"We have to realize that we still can be beat," senior wide receiver Brian Watters said. "We have to play our best football, and if we don't the results can easily be just like they were today."
This senior class has had its ups and downs, but mostly an impressive history at UCF. Most of the seniors have played all their home games in Bright House Networks Stadium and helped lead the Knights to 11-straight conference victories and to three bowl games.
Losing on Senior Day seemed to have no additional effects on the UCF senior class.
"It's always bad to lose on Senior Day, but in my opinion, a loss is a loss," Watters said.
The Knights continue to look forward to the next two games to secure their spot in the conference championship.
"We need to regroup tomorrow and figure out what we did wrong so we can beat Tulane," senior linebacker Bruce Miller said.
UCF plays the Green Wave on the road next weekend in another league match-up, just one of two contests standing in its way of the C-USA Championship.