20* Bowl Opener-St Pete Bowl (15-5 CFB run since Nov 20)
My 20* Bowl Opener (St Pete Bowl) is on Central Florida at 8:00 ET. On November 6, 1869 at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Rutgers beat Princeton 6-4. It was the first-ever intercollegiate game. Rutgers would wait until the 1978 season before its first-ever bowl appearance and then would not make a second one until 2005, current head coach Greg Sciano's fifth season. This year's St Petersburg Bowl appearance by the Scarlet Knights makes it five straight bowl trips for a school which previously made just one bowl appearance from 1869 through 2004. Read that again and then argue AGAINST Greg Schiano! Central Florida did not begin playing competitive football until 1979 and made the transition to Division I in 1996. George O'Leary (disgraced at Notre Dame) took over the program in 2004 and promptly went 0-11. However, his team would rebound the very next season to go 8-4 in the regular season before losing 49-48 in OT to Nevada in a very entertaining Hawaii Bowl. The Knights would fall to 4-8 in 2006 but went 'bowling' again in 2007 (won C-USA title game 44-25 over Tulsa), losing 10-3 in the Liberty Bowl to Miss St while finishing 10-4. It was back to 4-8 for UCF in 2008 but this year, O'Leary's team surprised most by going 8-4 SU and 9-2 ATS. Rutgers will take a three-game bowl winning streak into this game but overall, the team's 2009 season has got to be considered a disappointment. Rutgers got Cincy, Pitt, USF and West Va at home going 1-3 (beat only USF). The Scarlet Knights faced just one bowl team away from home, winning that game 28-24 on an 81-yard TD pass with 22 seconds left (Rutgers had been outgained until that point, 481-241 in yards). The defensive numbers are solid, allowing 15 points or less in seven of 11 games after getting 'spanked' by Cincinnati 47-15 to open the year. Rutgers ranks 19th in YPG (312.2) but the offense is a major question mark. Freshman QB Tom Savage has been erratic all season. Over Rutgers' last three games, he was solid vs Louisville (10-of-16 for 113 yards with one TD and no INTs) but in losses to Syracuse and West Va he completed just 36.4 percent for an average of 109.5 YPG with one TD and four INTs. Don't just blame him. A veteran OL has allowed 39 sacks this year, after Rutgers had allowed just 38 sacks the previous three seasons combined. RB Martinek (923 YR / 4.8 YPC / 9 TDs) is OK but he's no Ray Rice. Freshman WR Sanu has been used lately in the "wildcat" formation and while he had 148 yards rushing and two TDs vs Louisville, that was the EXCEPTION, not the rule. Tim Brown (51 catches / 20.6 YPC / 8 TDs) is a quality WR but he's been downgraded to questionable for this game with an ankle injury. As for UCF, the Knights finished 5-1 SU down the stretch, losing only to No. 2 Texas, in a game which O'Leary rested QB Hodges and RB Harvey. Note that the Knights averaged 38.0 PPG in their last five wins (4-1 ATS), as Hodges threw eight TDs and just four INTs, averaging 261.8 YPG through the air in his last four games. Harvey gained just 519 YR as a freshman but has topped 1,000 yards in 2009 (1,077), surpassing 100 yards five times, including his last three (averaged 132.7 YPG, 5.3 YPC and scored seven TDs). Remember, this is an offense which averaged just 16.6 PPG and 229.5 YPG in 2008. O'Leary has done an excellent job. The defense features a veteran front-seven and finished 4th in the nation in rushing yards allowed (82.5 YPG / 2.6 YPC), behind unbeatens Texas, Alabama and TCU (not bad). Schiano hardly hid Rutgers' displeasure at being "regulated" to this bowl with matters being made worse by it falling in the middle of exams. Meanwhile, UCF would 'LOVE' to get that first bowl win and the school's Orlando campus is just over 100 miles from St Petersburg. Bowl Opener 20* Central Florida.