UCF 38, Ball State 17
Beef `O' Brady's Bowl
St. Petersburg, Fla. - Tropicana Field
Dec. 21, 2012
TEAM NOTES
-The Knights won their second-straight bowl game with the 38-17 win over Ball State, and are now 2-3 all-time in bowl games.
-UCF was participating in its fifth bowl game in the last eight seasons dating back to its first bowl trip in 2005 (Sheraton Hawaii Bowl).
-The senior class goes out all alone as the all-time winningest senior class in school history. It went 34-19 from 2009-12.
-UCF finished the 2012 season with a 10-4 record, tying for the second-most victories in a single season, and it was the fourth time since the program's inception in 1979 it collected double-digit victories.
-UCF was plus-1 in turnover margin, giving it a plus-12 margin for the season, the second-best mark in school history.
-With five Friday, the Knights scored the most overall touchdowns (67) and the most offensive touchdowns (61) in a season.
-UCF had a first-quarter time of possession of 12:50, and for the game led 35:39-24:21.
-The Knights converted a 2-point try in the second quarter, their first 2-point conversion since Sept. 5, 2009.
-UCF had 494 total yards of offense, the second-most in a game this year, and was 9-for-12 on third downs.
-With a 35.4 average, UCF had its fifth-best scoring average in a single season this year.
-BSU did not score in the first quarter, and UCF gave up only 51 points in the first quarter all season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
-For the final time in their careers, seniors Latavius Murray, Jordan Rae and Kemal Ishmael were the captains Friday.
-Friday marked George O'Leary's 200th game as a collegiate head coach, and his ninth bowl game as a head coach. He improved to 4-5 all-time in bowl games.
-Senior free safety Kemal Ishmael started his 49th-straight game, which is tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the country.
-Ishmael completed his career with 367 tackles (third all-time) as he had seven Friday. He forced a fumble in the third quarter, his third of the year and sixth of his career.
-Sophomore quarterback Blake Bortles was selected as the Beef `O' Brady's Bowl MVP, and went 22-for-33 with 272 yards while tying a career-high with three passing touchdowns. He also rushed nine times for a career-high 80 yards and one touchdown.
-Bortles ended with 3,059 passing yards this year, the fifth-most in single-season history. It is the first time since Ryan Schneider in 2002 that a UCF quarterback produced at least 3,000 passing yards in a year.
-Bortles had 10 games this year with at least two TD passes, becoming the first QB in UCF history to accomplish that feat in a season.
-Bortles did not throw an interception in his final six games of the year. His streak of 174-straight pass attempts without an interception is a UCF record, and will carry over into 2013.
-Murray rushed 21 times for 71 yards and a score. He also had six catches for 33 yards and two touchdowns. He completed his career ranking second all-time with 44 overall touchdowns, third with 37 rushing touchdowns, sixth with 2,424 rushing yards and eighth with 453 attempts.
-Murray lost only one fumble in his entire career, and that was in 2008. He capped off his time as a Knight by having a streak of 407-straight carries without losing a fumble.
-True freshman Breshad Perriman tied a personal-best with five receptions while setting a career-high with 90 yards. On the first drive of the game, he had three catches including two for first downs. All-time at UCF, he ranks third among true freshman wide receivers with 26 receptions.
-UCF produced four sacks, including 1.5 by Troy Davis. That puts him in a tie for 10th on the UCF all-time list with 18.5. Freshman Thomas Niles also had 1.5 sacks, and Victor Gray and one.