Conference Conference USA 2005 record 8–5 (7–2 C-USA) | Division East | |
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Head coach George O'Leary (2nd year) Home stadium Citrus Bowl
(Capacity: 65,438) | ||
The 2005 UCF Golden Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. Their head coach was George O'Leary, in his second season with the team. It was their first year in Conference USA, in the East Division.
After going 0–11 in 2004, their final season in the Mid-American Conference, and O'Leary's first season as head coach, many did not expect much from UCF in its first C-USA season. After losing their first two non-conference games, the Golden Knights broke the nation's longest losing streak at the time, 17 games, by defeating Marshall for their first C-USA victory. From there, UCF would stun the conference by going 7–1 in-conference to win the East Division and host the first C-USA Championship, which they lost, 44–27, to Tulsa.
The Golden Knights also earned their first bowl invitation, going to the Hawaii Bowl against Nevada, the Western Athletic Conference co-champions. UCF fought the Wolf Pack hard and pushed the game to overtime, before a missed PAT lost the game for UCF, 49–48. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall was named co-MVP of the game.