The 2005 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl matched the UCF Golden Knights against the

Nevada Wolf Pack The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada. H ...

. The fourth edition of the

Hawaii Bowl The Hawaii Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played in the Honolulu, Hawaii, area since 2002. The game was originally held at Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii, a suburb of Honolulu, before moving to the Clarence T. C. Ching At ...

was held in

Halawa Hālawa () is a census-designated place (CDP) in the ‘Ewa District of Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. Hālawa Stream branches into two valleys: North and South Hālawa; North Hālawa is the larger stream and fluvial feature. Their c ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and featured WAC champions Nevada versus

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

runner–up UCF. The game was sponsored by

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an American international hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Cent ...

and was played on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

. UCF was one of the nation's best stories of the season. They had gone 0–11 the previous season and after starting the 2005 season 0–2, were riding a 17–game losing streak. They then accomplished one of the biggest turnarounds in

NCAA Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

history, as they won eight of their next nine games to reach the C-USA championship game. With a 7–1 conference record (8–3 overall), UCF lost to

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

to fall to 8–4. They were invited to the

, the program's first ever bowl appearance. It would be UCF's second visit to Hawaii. The Knights had faced the Rainbow Warriors back in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

as a

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

team.

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

finished as Co-WAC Champions, winning seven out of their last eight games. Their only loss during that stretch was to

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

. This was the Wolf Pack's first bowl appearance since the

1996 Las Vegas Bowl The 1996 Las Vegas Bowl was the fifth edition of the annual college football bowl game. It featured the Nevada Wolf Pack, the champions of the Big West Conference, and the Ball State Cardinals, the champions of the Mid-American Conference. This ...

. The game turned into a high–scoring shootout with Nevada alone racking up 623 yards of offense. UCF running back

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. He came to prominence with the low-budget buddy comedy film ''Clerks (film), Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted i ...

rushed for 202 yards and three touchdowns, while wide receiver

Brandon Marshall Brandon Tyrone Marshall (born March 23, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCF Knights, and was selected by ...

caught 11 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Trailing late in the game by ten points, UCF rallied to tie the score 42–42 and force overtime. Nevada scored a touchdown and extra point on their first overtime possession to take a 7–point lead. UCF scored a touchdown, but kicker

Matt Prater Matthew Phillip Prater (born August 10, 1984) is an American professional football placekicker. Regarded as one of the best long distance kickers in NFL history, he held the NFL record for longest field goal (64 yards) from 2013 until 2021 and ...

, who would go on to kick an NFL-record 64-yard field goal on December 8, 2013, as a member of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, missed the 60-foot extra point, sealing the victory for Nevada.

Game summary

First quarter

UCF jumped out to a quick 14–0 lead in the first quarter. On their first drive, quarterback Steven Moffett drove the Golden Knights 78 yards in only four plays for their first score. After an 18-yard run by

, Moffett threw a 51–yard touchdown pass to

. Their second drive took only two plays.

took a hand–off and broke away for a 78–yard touchdown run. Just six minutes into the game, the Golden Knights were up by 14. Robert Hubbard got Nevada on the board with a 4–yard touchdown run. It came after a 59–yard run by Mitchell and cut the lead to 14–7. Late in the first quarter, UCF quarterback Steven Moffett fumbled away the ball on a quarterback keeper at his own 27 yard line, but the call on the field was overturned after review. The Golden Knights maintained possession and drove into Nevada territory. UCF kicker

capped off the 11–play drive with a 47–yard field goal and a 17–7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Second quarter

In part due to UCF miscues, Nevada took control of the game during the second quarter. Running back B.J. Mitchell scored twice on two 1–yard touchdown runs for Nevada to take the lead 21–17. The first score came after UCF kicker

missed a 40–yard field goal attempt (off a wobbly snap). Robert Hubbard then blasted for a 49–yard run to the UCF 1 yard line, setting up Mitchell's first touchdown. The next Nevada score came after UCF punter Aaron Horne shanked a punt deep in their own territory. The punt went only 14 yards, setting Nevada up at the UCF 35 yard line. Nevada went the 35 yards in five plays, with Hubbard second touchdown run. Late in the second quarter, Nevada extended their lead, going 78 yards in only three plays and just over one minute. Jeff Rowe threw a 54–yard pass to Nichiren Flowers, then Hubbard broke away for another long run, this time a 24–yard touchdown rush to make the score 28–17. UCF drove to the Nevada 16 yard line in the final minute and

kicked a 38–yard field goal. Nevada led 28–20 at halftime.

Third quarter

Early in the third quarter, Steven Moffett fired a 29–yard touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall. The drive was aided by a pass interference call on Nevada which advanced the Golden Knights to the Nevada 30 yard line. The ensuing

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion, two-point convert, or two-point attempt is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that ...

failed and Nevada still led 28–26. With just under two minutes to go in the third quarter, Kevin Smith scored on a 3–yard touchdown run to give UCF a 32–28 lead. UCF again tried for two points, but once more failed.

Fourth quarter

In the fourth quarter, Robert Hubbard scored a 5–yard touchdown run, after a lengthy clock–burning drive to give Nevada a 35–32 lead. With 3:18 to go in the game, quarterback Jeff Rowe threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Travis Branzell to extend the Nevada lead to 42–32. On UCF's next possession, they failed to reach the endzone and settled a long field goal attempt.

nailed a 46–yard field goal to cut the lead to 42–35 with just 1:35 left in regulation. The ensuing

onside kick In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff (under American and Canadian rules) or punt (under Canadian rules only) deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a t ...

was recovered by UCF at the 48 yard line and they took advantage of it. Steven Moffett connected with

for a 27–yard gain all the way to the Nevada 21 yard line. Three plays later with 55 seconds left, Moffett found Marshall open on a slant inside the 5 yard line and Marshall leaped to the endzone for a 16–yard touchdown pass. Prater's extra point tied the game 42–42 and sent the game to overtime.

Overtime

In overtime, UCF won the coin toss and elected to defer. Jeff Rowe scored on a 4–yard touchdown run to make the lead 49–42 in favor of Nevada. Kevin Smith answered with a 19–yard touchdown run for UCF, but Matt Prater missed the extra point and Nevada escaped with a 49–48 win.

Scoring summary

Attendance

The official attendance of 16,134 set a low mark among post-season FBS bowl games, which stood until the

2014 Bahamas Bowl The 2014 Bahamas Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game that was played December 24, 2014 at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau in the Bahamas. The first edition of the Bahamas Bowl featured the Central Michigan Chippewas of ...

. UCF in particular saw very few fans make the trip from Orlando. The school only brought 253 people in their travel party and as few as 380 fans bought game ticket packages. Very few players had family members in attendance and the school's marching band did not make the trip. The especially long distance (nearly 5,000 miles), costly airline tickets and expensive hotel rates during the busy holiday season were the primary reason cited.

References

External links

USA Today game summary
{{UCF Knights bowl game navbox

Hawaii Bowl Nevada Wolf Pack football bowl games UCF Knights football bowl games