2005 Conference USA Football Championship Game

August 2023 Conference USA Football Championship Game Conference Championship 2005 Conference USA Football Championship.jpg December 3 2005 2005 Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida University of Tulsa Tulsa Golden Hurricane 8–4 Steve Kragthorpe 14 17 10 3 University of Central Florida UCF Knights 8–4 George O'Leary 7 20 0 0 Garrett Mills (TE, Tulsa) Tulsa by 3 Randy Smith 51,978https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2005-12-04-ucfrecap04-story.html The Recap Alan Schmadtke Orlando Sentinel 5 December 2005 23 October 2021 ESPN Mark Jones (play-by-play), Chris Spielman (analyst) and Rob Stone (sideline) Yes The 2005 Conference USA Football Championship Game was a college football game played on Saturday, December 3, 2005, at Citrus Bowl in Orlando. This was the 1st Conference USA Championship Game and determined the 2005 champion of the Conference USA.https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/conferenceusa.com/documents/2020/10/23/2020_Championship_History_and_Records.pdf CONFERENCE USA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY AND RECORDS conferenceusa.com Conference USA 23 October 2021 The game featured the UCF Golden Knights, champions of the East division, and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, champions of the West division. A UCF record home crowd of 51,978 saw the host team Golden Knights fall to visitors the Golden Hurricane by a score of 44–27. Teams UCF 2005 UCF Golden Knights football team After going 0–11 in 2004, their final season in the MAC, and George O'Leary's first season as head coach, many did not expect much from UCF in its first C-USA season. They dropped their first two games (non-conference games), and stretched their active losing streak to 17 games - the longest active losing streak in the nation. The Golden Knights broke the streak by defeating Marshall for their first C-USA intra-conference victory. From there, UCF would go 7–1 in-conference (8–3 overall) and won the East Division. It was one of the best turnarounds in Division I-A history at the time (+8 wins), and they became the first team ever to go to a conference championship game the year after going winless. Tulsa 2005 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team The Golden Hurricane entered the game at 7–4 (6–2 in C-USA). They won five out of their last six games to clinch the C-USA West division, their first season as members of C-USA. Picked during the preseason to be a mid-pack team, Tulsa had also experienced fairly recent bad seasons of 1–10 (2001) and 1–11 (2002). Tight end Garrett Mills was a standout for the team during the season. He was on his way to an NCAA record 1,235 yards receiving (on 87 receptions), the most yards earned receiving by a tight end in a single season.http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/043006aaa.html Tulsa's Mills Selected in Fourth Round by the New England Patriots Hurricane Watch April 30, 2006 July 16, 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20070311161805/http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/043006aaa.html March 11, 2007 dead Game summary thumb|left|upright=.75|the 2005 C-USA Championship Game. Quarterback Steven Moffett threw for 190 yards and 1 touchdown pass, but threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles in the game. On the opening drive, the Golden Knights drove 80 yards in 8 plays. Moffett connected to Willie Thornton for a 43-yard touchdown pass and an early 7–0 lead. Tulsa, however, scored 21 unanswered points. Nick Graham intercepted a Moffett pass and ran it 58 yards all the way down to the UCF 2 yard line. Uril Parrish's 2-yard dive gave Tulsa a 21–7 lead 13 seconds into the second quarter. UCF got back in the game with a 7-play, 92-yard drive to start their second quarter. Kevin Smith, facing a 3rd & 1, broke free for a 31-yard touchdown run, trimming the deficit to 21–14. After a Matt Prater field goal, Joe Burnett's 68-yard punt return touchdown put the Golden Knights ahead 24–21. An excessive celebration penalty against UCF on the touchdown, however, gave Tulsa good field position. They scored on the drive to re-take the lead, then put up a field goal to go up 31–24. UCF got the ball back just before halftime. Prater kicked his second field goal of the game as time expired in the half. The Golden Hurricane led 31–27 at halftime. Tulsa shutout UCF in the second half, and pulled away to a 44–27 victory. The Golden Hurricane accepted an invitation to the Liberty Bowl. With the loss, the Knights fell to 8–4 and accepted an invitation to the Hawaii Bowl.Aloha, Knights - UCF loses C-USA title but wins Hawaii Bowl trip (Part 1) https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109733641/2005-ucf-vs-tulsa/ Alan Schmadtke The Orlando Sentinel C1 Newspapers.com December 4, 2005 September 15, 2022Aloha, Knights - UCF loses C-USA title but wins Hawaii Bowl trip (Part 2) https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109733680/2005-ucf-vs-tulsa/ Alan Schmadtke The Orlando Sentinel C11 Newspapers.com December 4, 2005 September 15, 2022Tulsa 44, UCF 27, Fans 51,978 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107776927/ Rich McKay The Orlando Sentinel C11 Newspapers.com December 4, 2005 September 15, 2022 Game summary Conference USA white; text-align:center; autocollapse #fff #eee 2005 Conference USA Football Championship Game Saturday, December 3, 1005 12:00 p.m. EST Tulsa 14 17 10 3 UCF 7 20 0 0 Citrus Bowl • Orlando, Florida 51,978 ESPN ESPN game summary First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Statistics left Tulsa Golden Hurricane TLSA UCF Knights UCF 23 219 13–20–0 21:26 17 221 13–27–2 15:13 right Tulsa Golden Hurricane Tulsa UCF Knights UCF Paul Smith Uril Parrish Garrett Mills Steven Moffett Kevin Smith Brandon Marshall References Championship Category:Conference USA Football Championship Game Category:Tulsa Golden Hurricane football games Category:UCF Knights football games Category:December 2005 sports events in the United States Category:2005 in sports in Florida Category:2005 in Orlando, Florida Category:American football competitions in Orlando, Florida