| Year Game Played: | 2009 |
| Game Name: | St. Petersburg Bowl |
| Title Sponsor Suffix: | presented by Beef 'O' Brady's |
| Subheader: | 2nd St. Petersburg Bowl |
| Football Season: | 2009 |
| Visitor Name Short: | UCF |
| Visitor Nickname: | Knights |
| Visitor School: | University of Central Florida |
| Home Name Short: | Rutgers |
| Home Nickname: | Scarlet Knights |
| Home School: | Rutgers University |
| Visitor Record: | 8–4 |
| Visitor Conference: | C-USA |
| Home Record: | 8–4 |
| Home Conference: | Big East |
| Visitor Coach: | George O'Leary |
| Home Coach: | Greg Schiano |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 10 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 7 |
| Home 1Q: | 14 |
| Home 2Q: | 14 |
| Home 3Q: | 10 |
| Home 4Q: | 7 |
| Date Game Played: | December 19 |
| Stadium: | Tropicana Field |
| City: | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| Mvp: | WR Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers |
| Odds: | Rutgers by 3[1] |
| Referee: | Matt Moore (SEC) |
| Attendance: | 28,793[2] |
| Payout: | 1 million |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Mark Jones, Bob Davie, and Rob Stone |
| Different Next: | 2010 |
The 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl was the second edition of the college football bowl game and was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game began at 8:00 PM US EST on Saturday, December 19, 2009, was telecast on ESPN and featured the UCF of Conference USA and Rutgers of the Big East.[3] [4] Rutgers defeated UCF 45–24 in a game where Mohamed Sanu, the game's MVP, caught 4 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in addition to rushing 14 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Through sponsorship from the Beef O'Brady's restaurant franchise, the game was officially known as the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef 'O' Brady's.[5]
The game marked the Scarlet Knights' fifth consecutive bowl appearance, and their fourth consecutive victory, after not playing in a bowl game from 1979 to 2005. Rutgers was one of nine BCS teams to win a bowl game in each of the last three seasons. This was UCF's third bowl game, the last one was in the 2007 Liberty Bowl. With the loss, Central Florida dropped to 0–3 in the postseason. The bowl game marked the first ever meeting between Rutgers and UCF, both teams being called "Knights".
Rutgers wore their home red uniforms, and UCF wore their away white uniforms.
| Scoring Play | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Quarter | |||
| Rutgers - Mohamed Sanu 5 Yd Run (San San Te Kick), 8:37 | Rutgers 7–0 | ||
| UCF - Kamar Aiken 7 Yd Pass From Brett Hodges (Nick Cattoi Kick), 4:31 | Tie 7–7 | ||
| Rutgers - Tim Brown 65 Yd Pass From Tom Savage (San San Te Kick), 3:54 | Rutgers 14–7 | ||
| 2nd Quarter | |||
| UCF - Nick Cattoi 25 Yd FG, 14:56 | Rutgers 14–10 | ||
| Rutgers - Mohamed Sanu 1 Yd Run (San San Te Kick), 5:50 | Rutgers 21–10 | ||
| UCF - Kamar Aiken 34 Yd Pass From Brett Hodges (Nick Cattoi Kick), 2:32 | Rutgers 21–17 | ||
| Rutgers - Billy Anderson 19 Yd Interception Return (San San Te Kick), 1:38 | Rutgers 28–17 | ||
| 3rd Quarter | |||
| Rutgers - Mohamed Sanu 11 Yd Pass From Tom Savage (San San Te Kick), 12:37 | Rutgers 35–17 | ||
| Rutgers - San San Te 43 Yd FG, 8:09 | Rutgers 38–17 | ||
| 4th Quarter | |||
| UCF - Jonathan Davis 2 Yd Run (Nick Cattoi Kick), 2:23 | Rutgers 38–24 | ||
| Rutgers - Damaso Munoz 35 Yd Kickoff Return (San San Te Kick), 2:16 | Rutgers 45–24 | ||