The UCF Knights are taking on the Georgia Bulldogs in the LIberty Bowl this New Years’ Eve. KnightNews.com has you covered with Matt Fontana and Ryan Bass doing live twitter updates in the coverage below.
And be sure to check back for a full recap after the game.
The UCF Knights (10-3) take on the Georgia Bulldogs (6-6) in today’s Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee.
Where to watch: 3:30 on ESPN
The Knights will be looking to secure the first bowl game win in team history. To do this they will need to go through a tough Georgia team that finished the year by winning five of their last seven games.
UCF’s Keys to victory:
- Establish the run. UCF was the only team in Conference USA to average more yards on the ground per game than through the air. Georgia has given up 23 rushing touchdowns this season and their defense has generally struggled when facing run-based offenses. UCF offensive coordinator Charlie Taffe will look to feed tailback Latavius Murray early and often in this game. The Knights will need a strong run game to open up the play-action pass and make life for quarterback Jeff Godfrey much simpler. Godfrey’s ability to run for positive yards will be important as he tries to escape Georgia’s fast front seven.
- Limit AJ Green. Georgia’s superstar wide receiver Green causes big matchup problems in the UCF secondary. The six-foot-four Green will most likely be matched up against all five feet and ten inches of sophomore Knights corner Josh Robinson. While Robinson played admirably in UCF’s victory over SMU, facing AJ Green is a completely different story. The Bulldogs lost three out of the four games they were without their star wideout early this season, while he was suspended. Green is heavily relied on by Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, so look for UCF to double Green all day to give Robinson plenty of help.
- Pressure Aaron Murray. The best way to shut down the Georgia offense is to stop the pass game before it can get started. Murray has the second highest passer efficiency of any freshman in the country, only trailing Godfrey. Murray needs only one more touchdown throw to break Georgia’s single season record. To stop that form happening, Bruce Miller and company will need to keep Murray on his back. UCF finished with the third most sacks in their conference this year and the front four will need to keep that constant pressure on Murray to take pressure off of the secondary. Turning Georgia into a running team would be big for UCF, as the Bulldogs only had the tenth best rushing attack in their conference.
Prediction:
UCF faces a huge test in Georgia, but a very winnable game against a team that did not live up to the heavy expectations placed on them in the pre-season.
UCF wins this game, 24-17
