OrlandoSentinel.com
UCF's Liberty Bowl win over Georgia is proof that Knights have arrived
Mike BianchiSPORTS COMMENTARY
9:54 PM EST, December 31, 2010
The Liberty Bell.
It is ringing loud and proud.
The UCF players are parading around the field with it; holding it up high over their heads and jingling and jangling it in front of the manic, frantic UCF rooting section.
The rain is pouring down on their heads and they are soaking it all up; hugging and high-fiving and dancing and singing … and ringing!
"The sweetest sound in the world," UCF senior Bruce Miller says with a huge smile splashed across his face. "I rang that bell until I couldn't ring it anymore."
Ding dong, UCF's bowl futility streak is dead.
The bell is a replica of the real Liberty Bell and is given to the champions of the Autozone Liberty Bowl.
And how poetically appropriate that UCF players were clanging it Friday after their elating, liberating 10-6 victory over Georgia gave Coach George O'Leary and his team the first bowl victory in school history.
If Patrick Henry were a UCF fan, he would have been wearing a gold-and-black wig Friday and screaming, "Give me the Liberty Bowl or give me death!"
And, so, let freedom ring across Knight Nation.
UCF, the one-time directional school that for so long was ignored and neglected by fans and media in this football-fanatical state, has finally been unshackled from the dungeon of darkness. The program has arrived. The sleeping giant has not only woken up, he just gobbled down breakfast and is ready to tackle the world.
"This is the biggest win ever at UCF," school president John Hitt declared outside a jubilant UCF locker room. "Another barrier has fallen. We've shown we can go toe-to-toe with a traditional powerhouse and come out a winner,"
Added O'Leary: "A great win for our players, our seniors and the UCF program!"
What is going on at Orlando's hometown university is absolutely euphoric and historic. The Knights basketball team is unbeaten at 13-0 and ranked No. 19 in the nation. The football team, with 11 wins, has more victories than any team in the state and is ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in school history.
And, astoundingly, they just beat Georgia. You heard me … Georgia! From the big, bad Southeastern Conference – the league that has won four straight national championships.
"In my four years playing at Florida, I never beat Georgia," said UCF athletic director Keith Tribble, an offensive lineman for the Gators in the late 1970s. "This is a huge win for the UCF program. Maybe people nationally will start taking notice of us now."
Maybe the Big East better start taking notice -- quickly. UCF's basketball team beat Florida earlier in the season, and now the football team has beaten Georgia. I'm starting to wonder if the Big East is good enough for UCF. Why not the ACC? Why not the SEC? If the SEC were smart, they'd boot out Vanderbilt and add UCF – a team that can actually play with the conference's big bullies.
Let's face it, not many of the naysayers thought UCF had what it took to beat Georgia – even if it was a mediocre version of the once-feared Dawgs. But perhaps it was an omen of good things to come when Georgia mascot – Uga VIII – didn't show up for the game because of gastrointestinal issues. Or at least that was the official story. Considering what is going on at big-time BCS schools this year, I believe Uga VIII was probably suspended for selling his commemorative Liberty Bowl pooper scooper to a Georgia booster for $1,000.
Once the game started, UCF freshman quarterback Jeff Godfrey added another chapter to a spectacular rookie season that has seen him emerge as one of the most dynamic players in the country. He was crushed by a Georgia pass rush in the first quarter and got up limping badly. Coaches tried to convince him to come out of the game.
He refused.
He somehow managed to finish the game and showed he is more than just fast, sleek athlete. He is a tough, tenacious one, too. When it appeared UCF's offense was destined to be kept out of the end zone, Godfrey willed his team down the field in the fourth quarter. He took the Knights 65 yards on 11 plays for the winning touchdown – a 10-yard run by game MVP Latavius Murray.
But this victory belonged mainly to UCF defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable and his undersized, overachieving unit. Georgia came into the game ranked No. 23 nationally in scoring offense (34.3 points per game), but UCF didn't allow them in the end zone. If this defensive effort were a song, it would be called, "The Knight the lights went out in Georgia."
"Georgia thought they were going to come in here and run over us and push us around," UCF cornerback Darin Baldwin said. "We weren't going to allow that to happen."
Huxtable, it should be noted, is a huge Elvis fan and took a few hours during bowl week in Memphis to visit Graceland. Maybe that's why his unit played as mean and ornery as a hungry "hound dog" and left Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray "all shook up."
Welcome to Memphis, home of the blues, great BBQ and UCF history. It's no wonder Knight fans flooded Memphis's most famous party area after the game and were doing a black-and-gold version of the Beale Street Boogie.
What a New Year's Eve it was.
Sort of makes you want to sing a UCF version of Auld Lang Syne.
"A bowl victory to never be forgot,
And always brought to mind,
The UCF Knights are white-hot,
And auld lang syne!
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll ring the bell of Liberty,
For auld lang syne!"
Read Mike Bianchi's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/openmike and listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740-AM. You can e-mail him at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com.
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