Knights ready for St. Petersburg Bowl kickoff

Knights look for bowl win

By Isaac Babcock
| 6:57 a.m. December 26, 2014

Photo by: Isaac Babcock - UCF will face a one-of-a-kind challenge Aug. 30 in Dublin, against a Penn State foe eager to get revenge.

Winter Park - Maitland Observer
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The Knights are headed to the St. Petersburg Bowl after beating East Carolina in dramatic fashion to end their regular season. They successfully defended their conference title for the first time in school history, earning their fifth bowl game in six years.

The Knights are now 9-3 overall, with a 7-1 record in the conference. They’re set to play NC State (7-5) at the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl.

The Knights enter this bowl game with much of their squad that delivered a 52-42 shocker upset win in last year's Tostito's Fiesta Bowl against Baylor. In that game the Knights were 16.5 point underdogs. Oddly, the Knights are predicted to beat NC State by more than 12 points — the widest odds margin on any bowl game this season.

The Knights haven't been the most successful against NC State. The last time the Wolfpack showed up in the Bright House, they knocked the Knights around in a 28-21 win. That was back in 2010, with two totally different teams than what fans will see in St. Petersburg.

The teams have split their two meetings so far, with both teams winning on the road after jumping out to a big lead then stopping their opponent's comeback attempt late in the game. When the Wolfpack came to the Bright House, they leapt out to a 28-3 lead then held on while UCF scored 18 unanswered points, falling just short. That NC State team featured NFL-bound Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson.

These are both new teams compared to that era, with the Knights enjoying stronger seasons in the interim since 2010.

Aside from the odds, the Knights have quite a few numbers in their favor going into the game, but some big ones that don't. They've averaged 362.8 yards per game versus the Wolfpack's 402. They've also held opponents to 282.8 yards per game against NC State's 373.1. The Knights' defense could be a big factor in the game, having allowed only 199 first downs this season to the Wolfpack's 248, while the teams posted similar numbers in first downs gained on offense.

It all gets going at 8 p.m. tonight on ESPN.