2010 Conference USA Football Championship Game explained

The 2010 Conference USA Football Championship Game was played on December 4, 2010, at Bright House Networks Stadium, now known as Spectrum Stadium, in Orlando, Florida. The game was played between the UCF Knights, winner of Conference USA's East Division, and the SMU Mustangs, the winner the West Division.

UCF was seeking their second C-USA title, and hosting the game for the third time. SMU was experiencing their second consecutive winning season, and their third one since returning from the "death penalty" in 1989. It would be SMU's first attempt to win a conference title since 1984, when they won a share of the Southwest Conference championship.

2009 season

The 2009 Conference USA Football Championship Game on December 5, 2009, consisted of the East Carolina Pirates, the champion of Conference USA's East Division, beating the West Division champion Houston Cougars at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina by a score of 38 to 32.

Match-up History

This was the third time the UCF Knights and the SMU Mustangs met on the football field. The previous to match-up proved UCF victorious at home by a score of 31–17 in the regular season. SMU up on till this point has not bested UCF in a football game.[1]

Game summary

Under conference rules, the game was held at the home field of the team with the best record in conference play; since UCF finished C-USA play at 7–1, better than SMU's 6–2, the game was held at the Knights' home field.

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring Information[2] Score
Length Time SMU UCF
1 07:32 13 plays, 73 yards 7:28 UCF Latavius Murray 5-yard reception from Jeffrey Godfrey, Nick Cattoi kick good 0 7
2 00:00 13 plays, 68 yards 1:58 UCF Nick Cattoi 29-yard field goal 0 10
3 06:25 8 plays, 85 yards 4:53 UCF Latavius Murray 36-yard run, Nick Cattoi kick good 0 17
4 09:15 10 plays, 88 yards 4:25 SMUAldrick Robinson 22-yard reception from Kyle Padron, Matt Szymanski kick good 7 17
Final Score 7 17

Statistics

StatisticsSMUUCF
First downs1921
Total yards317311
Rushes–yards–TD30-97-044-144-1
Passing yards220167
Passing: Comp–Att–TD-Int18-35-1-215-19-1-0
Turnovers20
Penalties–Yards3-304-45
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
SMUPassingKyle Padron18-34, 220 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
RushingZach Line18 carries, 105 yards, 0 TDs
ReceivingDarius Johnson9 receptions, 105 yards, 0 TDs
UCFPassingJeff Godfrey15–19, 167 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
RushingLatavius Murray20 carries, 94 yards, 1 TD
ReceivingKamar Aiken4 receptions, 52 yards, 0 TDs
[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Winsipedia - UCF Knights vs. SMU Mustangs football series history. Winsipedia. en. 2019-11-17.
  2. Web site: Southern Methodist Mustangs vs. UCF Knights – Drivechart. https://web.archive.org/web/20101209080754/http://espn.go.com/ncf/drivechart?gameId=303382116. dead. December 9, 2010. 2010-12-04. ESPN. 2010-12-04.
  3. Web site: SMU at UCF Box Score, December 4, 2010. College Football at Sports-Reference.com. en. 2019-11-17.