Our mindset going into the Liberty Bowl, and you can see that from the season we've had, is we're going to win it. We're not just going to a bowl game and going to play an SEC school. We're going to win this game.
Central Florida Knights defensive end Bruce Miller (December 4, 2010)
Miller seems rather sure of himself in the wake of UCF’s Conference USA championship campaign, in which the Knights tied a school record with ten wins in a single season. I can’t help but admire the young man’s confidence, especially since Central Florida has never in its history won a bowl game and the SEC has gone 4-0 against Conference USA since the Liberty Bowl began pairing representatives of the two leagues.
In 2010, the Knights have gone 10-1 against teams from Division I-AA, Conference USA, and the MAC while posting a ledger of 0-2 against teams from automatically-qualifying BCS conferences. George O’Leary’s club fell to the N.C. State Wolfpack by a 28-21 margin in Orlando and dropped a 17-13 decision to the Kansas St. Wildcats on the road. However, Central Florida outgained N.C. State but finished at minus-five in turnover margin, and Kansas State needed a go-ahead touchdown with 24 seconds to play to beat UCF in a game featuring a weather delay of almost 90 minutes.
In short, the Knights are no pushovers, but they have gone 0-11 against major conference opposition since upending N.C. State by a two-point margin to start the 2007 season. Since moving up to Division I-A status in 1996, Central Florida has gone 1-13 against the Southeastern Conference, falling to the South Carolina Gamecocks in 1996, 1997, and 2005, to the Mississippi Rebels in 1997, to the Auburn Tigers in 1997, 1998, and 1999, to the Mississippi St. Bulldogs in 1997 and 2007, to the Florida Gators in 1999 and 2006, to the Georgia Bulldogs in 1999, and to the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2001, but beating the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2000, when the defending SEC champions went 3-8 in Mike DuBose’s final season at the Capstone.
Go ‘Dawgs!