Liberty Bowl 2010 Georgia vs. Central Florida: 10 Things You Need To Know
The Liberty Bowl has been played for quite some time. The first game was played in 1959 when Penn State beat Alabama 7-0.
SInce then, the game has been played every single year except for 2008.
Last season, Arkansas beat East Carolina 20-17, but this year, the teams competing for the title will be Georgia and Central Florida.
The game will be played on Dec. 31 this year and will be aired on ESPN.
Read on to learn a little bit more about these two football teams.
Liberty Bowl History
1 of 10
Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia has been to the Liberty Bowl twice in the lengthy history of this game.
The first time was way back in 1967 when the Bulldogs lost 14-7 to the Wolfpack of North Carolina State.
The second went better for Georgia fans. In 1987, they watched their team beat the Arkansas Razorbacks, 20-17.
All of that adds up to a 1-1 all-time record in the Liberty Bowl.
Central Florida Knights
Central Florida on the other hand has only played in one Liberty Bowl.
In 2007, the Knights took on the Mississippi State Bulldogs and lost 10-3.
Easy enough math leads you to realize they have a 0-1 all-time record in the Liberty Bowl.
Overall Bowl History
2 of 10
Georgia Bulldogs
In their long and storied history, the Bulldogs have played in 45 bowl games. Of those, they've won 26, lost 16 and tied three, good enough to have a .602 winning percentage.
Those numbers also place the Bulldogs sixth on the list of bowl appearances and third on the list of bowl victories among all college football programs.
Georgia has won their last four bowl games and has played in a game for the last 13 seasons. Under Mark Richt, the Bulldogs are 7-2.
Central Florida Knights
Central Florida has only played in three bowl games, losing all three.
Each of the games was during the tenure of current head coach George O' Leary.
In 2005, the Knights lost 47-48 to Nevada in the Hawai'i Bowl. Two years later was the Liberty Bowl loss. Then just last season, they lost by 21 points to Rutgers in the St. Petersburg Bowl.
This Season
3 of 10
Georgia Bulldogs
This season, the Bulldogs slipped from the rankings thanks to four straight losses, but then at least partially rebounded.
Georgia went 5-2 in its last seven games, many of which were wins in dominant fashion.
Their overall record was just 6-6, but it is not indicative of the talent on the team.
Central Florida Knights
As for Central Florida, the Knights went 10-3 and won the Conference USA Championship Game against SMU.
They only lost to North Carolina State, Kansas State and Southern Miss, but they lack a marquee win.
The Knights have made their way into one set of rankings, placing No. 24 in the Coaches Poll.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Offensive Stats
4 of 10
Georgia Bulldogs
The offense of the Bulldogs has improved greatly in the latter part of the season.
Utilizing both the running and the passing game, the Bulldogs employ a fairly balanced attack to take out their opponents.
As of late, it's been great as they've scored 41, 43, 44, 31, 55, 31 and 42 points. Remember too that five of those point totals were against SEC defenses.
The Bulldogs rank 38th in the country in passing yards with 246.1 per game and 72nd in rushing yards with 147.7 per game.
As for points scored, Georgia ranks 23rd with 34.3 per game.
Central Florida Knights
Central Florida relies much more on its running game than passing game.
The Knights have the potential to light up the scoreboard even though they aren't known for passing the ball. This is clear when you see that they put up 61 points against Tulane. No, the game didn't go to overtime.
Central Florida ranks 25th in the country in rushing yards, averaging 192.5 per game. They have actually managed to rush for more yards than they've passed for.
The passing offense, with just 191.8 yards per game, ranks 83rd in the country.
The Knights have scored 33.8 points per game, just slightly less than Georgia. In fact, they're only one place behind, coming in at 24th.
Defensive Stats
5 of 10
Georgia Bulldogs
Thanks to Todd Grantham, the new defensive coordinator of the Bulldogs, the team has switched to a 3-4 defense and has improved drastically throughout the season.
During the middle portion of the season, Georgia held Tennessee to just 14 points and then shut out Vanderbilt the next week.
The numbers weren't quite that good for the rest of the season, but you could tell that the defense was playing with much more confidence.
The pass defense ranks 19th in the country, the rushing defense 59th, and the scoring defense 49th with 186.7 yards, 149.2 yards and 23.1 points per game allowed respectively.
Central Florida Knights
The Knights have built their success around their defense this season.
In their 13 games, they've held their opponents to 14 points or less an amazing eight times. That's not a bad success rate at all.
Even though they haven't allowed a lot of points, Central Florida has allowed quite a few passing yards. Giving up 207.7 yards per game through the air, the Knights rank 45th in the country.
However, their rush defense is excellent. Allowing just 110.4 yards per game on the ground, the Knights rank 10th.
This, plus their ability to keep teams from getting rushing touchdowns (just nine on the year) contributes to their scoring defense, which ranks 12th in the country at 18 points allowed per game.
Quarterbacks
6 of 10
Georgia Bulldogs
Aaron Murray, the redshirt freshman sensation for Georgia, has been fantastic this season. This has been especially true in recent weeks now that the playbook has been opened up for him.
Murray this season has completed 188 of his 304 passes this season, good for a 61.8 percent completion rate. Those passes have gone for 2,851 yards and 24 touchdowns to go along with just six interceptions. His quarterback rating is 162.72 for the season.
But Murray doesn't just possess a great right arm. He can run as well.
The mobile quarterback has run for 163 yards and four touchdowns this season.
Impressively, Murray has thrown for three touchdowns in each of his last four games.
Central Florida Knights
Another freshman, Jeffrey Godfrey, has been quite successful for his team as well.
Godfrey has completed 68.4 percent of his passes, 143 of his 209 attempts. They've gone for 2,042 yards and 13 touchdowns with only six interceptions. His quarterback rating is 165.27.
Just like Murray, Godfrey is also a dual threat quarterback. But, unlike Murray, Godfrey has much more success on the ground.
The freshman has run 142 times for 546 yards and nine touchdowns. Those are great numbers for any quarterback not named Cameron Newton.
Skill Positions
7 of 10
Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia uses a two-headed rushing attack made up of Washaun Ealey and Caleb King.
So far this season, Ealey has carried the ball 141 times for 751 yards and 11 touchdowns despite losing time for both disciplinary reasons and fumble problems. King has carried 80 times for 430 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bulldogs' best skill position player though is A.J. Green, arguably the best receiver in the country. Despite missing the first four games for violating NCAA rules, Green has caught 49 passes for 771 yards and nine touchdowns.
Most importantly, he's changed the Georgia offense for the better.
Central Florida Knights
I guess you could consider Godfrey a skill position player because of the amount of times he runs, but we're not going to here.
The Knights' starting running back, Ronnie Weaver, is having a very good season. The back has carried the ball 185 times for 890 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Latavius Murray is another great running back who has rushed 93 times for 533 yards and 10 touchdowns.
As for their top receivers, Jamar Newsome and Brian Watters have caught a combined 75 balls for 1,191 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensive Players
8 of 10
Georgia Bulldogs
For the Bulldogs, the two leading tacklers, with 121 and 76 tackles, are Akeem Dent and Bacarri Rambo.
Justin Houston and Marcus Dowtin are also having great years with 57 stops apiece. Houston also leads Georgia with 11 sacks. No other Bulldog has three or more.
As for interceptions, Rambo and Sanders Commings are tied for the team lead with three each.
Central Florida Knights
The Knights' leading tackler this season is safety Kemal Ishmael, who has 82 tackles so far this year.
Their two best pass rushers are Bruce Miller, who has seven sacks on the year for a total of 28 yards lost, and Darius Nall, who has sacked the opposing quarterback eight-and-a-half times for a total of 57 yards lost.
In the secondary, Reggie Weams has picked off four passes.
Special Teams
9 of 10
Georgia Bulldogs
The Bulldogs' special teams units are quite good, one of the best parts of the team.
Brandon Boykin is the primary kickoff returner and has taken back 31 kicks for 787 yards and a touchdown, an average of 25.39 yards per return. Branden Smith is the best punt returner on the team and has taken 10 kicks for 143 yards.
As for the kicker, Blair Walsh is arguably the best in the country. He's made 18 of his 21 attempts this season. The punter is Drew Butler, and he is similarly one of the best in the nation. Butler's average yards per punt this year is 44.71 yards on 45 punts.
Central Florida Knights
The Knights lead the country in yards per kickoff return thanks to Quincy McDuffie. The return man has taken back 26 kicks for 849 yards and two touchdowns. As for the punt return game, Josh Robinson leads a very strong unit. Robinson has taken back 17 kicks for 294 yards.
One of the Knights' big problems is the play of their place kicker, Nick Cattoi. Cattoi has only made 10 of his 18 field goal attempts and has missed three PAT.
Their punter, Blake Clingan, has averaged 41.85 yards per punt.
Prediction
10 of 10
Unfortunately for the Knights, Georgia matches up with them perfectly.
Central Florida doesn't boast the greatest pass defense in the world, so Aaron Murray should be able to tear them up.
Also, the physicality of Georgia's defense is unmatched in Conference USA, so the rushing attack should be slowed by Justin Houston, Akeem Dent and company.
Finally, Mark Richt is a great head coach when it comes to winning bowl games. His 7-2 record in the season's final game is far superior to the 0-3 record of George O'Leary.
Georgia 38, Central Florida 24
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
