Jan. 3, 2011
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ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - December started with UCF's men's basketball defeating then 16th-ranked Florida and the month ended with the Knights' football team shocking Georgia in the Liberty Bowl for the program's first-ever bowl victory.
And just for good measure there were plenty of memorable moments in between as well, leaving little doubt that December was the best month in the history of UCF Athletics. And if anything, UCF's December to remember showed that the program is one that is truly on the rise and 2011 has the potential to be even better for the Knights.
UCF Athletics Director Keith Tribble, who was emotional as he danced on the field in celebration following last Friday's Liberty Bowl, promised that there's more where this December came from.
``This is just the start. I'm telling you that this is just the start,'' Tribble said. ``This is something that we've been planning and building toward for a long time and some of that hard work is starting to pay off for us now.''
With UCF's football program ranked No. 24 - and sure to move up following the 10-6 defeat of Georgia in the Liberty Bowl - and the men's basketball program ranked No. 19 and undefeated at 13-0, the Knights have two teams making national waves for all of the right reasons. Both programs reached the national rankings this season for the first time in school history, and look like locks to stay there throughout the year.
The men's basketball team, under the direction of new coach Donnie Jones, had control throughout and beat the Gators 57-54 back on Dec. 1 to send a message that they were for real as a program on the rise. At the time, it was UCF's first-ever defeat of the two-time national champion Gators and just the second victory over a team ranked in the Top 25. What the victory most did was cement the fact that the Knights are on the right track under Jones.
``We're trying to brand our program and I think since the day that our staff has arrived here our guys have bought in and worked hard,'' said Jones, who believed in UCF's promise enough to leave Marshall and his home state of West Virginia last March. ``Your hard work doesn't always pay off so quickly and get rewarded for it, but I told our guys how proud I was of them and their effort. You earn your respect by what you do on the court and how you compete and the biggest thing we've been able to do is compete for 40 minutes.''
Since that defeat of Florida, all the Knights' basketball team has done is push their record to 13-0, beat the University of Miami in an Orange Bowl Classic game once founded by Tribble, win a tough game on the road at UMass with a gimpy Marcus Jordan and capture the UCF Holiday Classic title by coming from behind to defeat Princeton.
While some thought UCF's basketball team would be a work in progress this season as it adapted to Jones' new style of play, the Knights are off to their best start since joining Division I. Jones wouldn't go so far to say that he could see this coming, but vowed that it's a product of hard work.
``I think anything is possible,'' Jones said recently. ``We're trying to build our program and this is a result of us playing 10 games and continuing to stay humble. We've worked hard and we've been able to win and being able to be ranked would be great for our program. We'd be really proud of that, but our goal is to be ranked at the end of the year.''
As for the football team, the Knights won their second Conference USA title in four seasons by beating SMU 17-7 at Bright House Networks Stadium on Dec. 4. That victory helped vault the Knights in the Bowl Championship Series Top 25 as well as giving them a spot in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches' polls.
And the Knights affirmed those spots with the tough, gritty way they performed in the Liberty Bowl. Despite entering the game as a major underdog, UCF got a 10-yard touchdown scamper from sophomore tailback Latavius Murray and two big defensive stops in the final minutes to beat the Bulldogs 10-6.
After losing in its previous three tries, UCF finally had its first-ever bowl victory. And when sophomore safety Kemal Ishmael batted down the final pass to secure UCF's victory, it set off a wild scene on the field and in the stands as Knights Nation celebrated the finest moment in the history of the program.
In a week, the Knights will find out their ranking in the final Top 25 poll of the season. It's a spot they will likely retain next season with quarterback Jeff Godfrey, Murray, Ishamel and others back again.
``UCF should be very proud of what it's accomplished this year and everybody here has a piece in it,'' UCF football coach George O'Leary said. ``As the head coach, I just want to thank everybody and I'm already looking forward to bigger and better things next year.''
Clearly, it was a December to remember for Knights Nation.
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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.