2005 UCF Golden Knights football team

The 2005 UCF Golden Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. Their head coach was George O'Leary, in his second season with the team. It was their first year in Conference USA, in the East Division.

2005 UCF Golden Knights football
C-USA East Division champion
Hawaii Bowl, L 48–49 OT vs Nevada
ConferenceConference USA
DivisionEast
2005 record8–5 (7–2 C-USA)
Head coachGeorge O'Leary (2nd season)
Home stadiumCitrus Bowl
(Capacity: 65,438)
2005 Conference USA football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
UCF x  7 –1     8 –5  
Southern Miss  5 –3     7 –5  
Memphis  5 –3     7 –5  
East Carolina  4 –4     5 –6  
Marshall  3 –5     4 –7  
UAB  3 –5     5 –6  
West Division
Tulsa x$  6 –2     9 –4  
UTEP  5 –3     8 –4  
Houston  4 –4     6 –6  
SMU  4 –4     5 –6  
Tulane  1 –7     2 –9  
Rice  1 –7     1 –10  
Championship: Tulsa 44, Central Florida 27
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

After going 0–11 in 2004, their final season in the Mid-American Conference, and O'Leary's first season as head coach, many did not expect much from UCF in its first C-USA season. After losing their first two non-conference games, the Golden Knights broke the nation's longest losing streak at the time, 17 games, by defeating Marshall for their first C-USA victory. From there, UCF would stun the conference by going 7–1 in-conference to win the East Division and host the first C-USA Championship, which they lost, 44–27, to Tulsa.

The Golden Knights also earned their first bowl invitation, going to the Hawaii Bowl against Nevada, the Western Athletic Conference co-champions. UCF fought the Wolf Pack hard and pushed the game to overtime, before a missed PAT lost the game for UCF, 49–48. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall was named co-MVP of the game.

Schedule
The Citrus Bowl, the Knights home field
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 17:45pmat South Carolina*
ESPNL 15–2482,753
September 177:00pmat South Florida*
FSNL 14–3145,139
September 246:00pmMarshall
CSTVW 23–1322,127
October 18:00pmat Louisiana-Lafayette*
W 24–2118,262
October 86:00pmMemphis
  • Citrus Bowl
  • Orlando, FL
CSTVW 38–1720,562
October 157:00pmat Southern Miss
CSTVL 31-5228,366
October 217:00pmTulane
  • Citrus Bowl
  • Orlando, FL
W 34-2415,009
October 292:00pmat East Carolina
CSTVW 30–2034,410
November 56:00pmHouston
  • Citrus Bowl
  • Orlando, FL
ionW 31–2932,635
November 124:00pmat UAB
CSTVW 27–2112,199
November 193:00pmat Rice
CSTVW 31–288,267
December 312:00pmTulsa
ESPNL 27–4451,978
December 248:30pmvs. Nevada
ESPNL 48–49 OT26,254

References


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