2014 St. Petersburg Bowl

Last updated

2014 Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl
7th St. Petersburg Bowl
1234Total
NC State71014334
UCF3731427
DateDecember 26, 2014
Season 2014
Stadium Tropicana Field
Location St. Petersburg, Florida
MVPNC State QB Jacoby Brissett [1]
Favorite UCF by 2 [2]
National anthem Carolyn Malachi [3]
Referee Don Willard [4] (MAC)
Attendance26,675 [4]
Payout US$537,500
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN/ESPN Radio
Announcers Adam Amin, John Congemi, and Kaylee Hartung (ESPN)
Dave LaMont, Anthony Becht, & Cara Capuano (ESPN Radio)
St. Petersburg Bowl
 < 2013 2015 > 

The 2014 St. Petersburg Bowl, the seventh edition of the annual game, was a college football bowl game that was played on December 26, 2014 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game matched the NC State Wolfpack of the Atlantic Coast Conference against the American Athletic Conference co-champion UCF Knights. [5] The game began at 8:00 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games concluding the 2014 FBS football season. The Wolfpack defeated the Knights, 34–27.

Contents

After four playings named after the Beef O'Brady's restaurant franchise, the bowl reverted to its original name, the St. Petersburg Bowl. Sponsored by online payment processor BitPay, the game was officially known as the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl.

Teams

The game featured the NC State Wolfpack of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the American Athletic Conference co-champion UCF Knights.

The game represented be the third overall meeting between these two teams, with the series previously tied 1–1. The last time these two teams met was in 2010.

NC State Wolfpack

After finishing their regular season with a 7–5 record, the Wolfpack accepted their invitation to play in the game. [6]

This game was NC State's first St. Petersburg Bowl.

UCF Knights

After finishing their regular season with a 9–3 record and winning a share of the American Athletic Conference championship, the Knights accepted their invitation to play in the game. [7]

The game was UCF's third St. Petersburg Bowl, extending their record for most appearances in the game. The Knights previously lost the 2009 game to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights by a score of 45–24, and they later won the 2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl over the Ball State Cardinals by a score of 38–17.

Pregame buildup

NC State

Offense

The Wolfpack's offense focused on rushing the football, averaging 206 rushing yards per game, which ranked fourth in their conference; nevertheless, they were average in other areas, and were expected to struggle against UCF's stout defense. [8] [9] The unit was piloted by dual-threat quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who excelled at game management and keeping the offense moving by avoiding turnovers. [10] A trio of running backs made substantial contributions to the rushing attack along with Brissett – Shadrach Thornton led the team with 811 yards and a 5.5 yards-per-carry average (ypc), Matt Dayes compiled 495 yards on 91 carries (5.4 ypc), and Tony Creecy compiled 282 yards on 52 carries (5.4 ypc). [11] Freshman Bo Hines led an inexperienced receiving corps with 42 receptions for 537 yards, while tight end David Grinnage was second in receiving, and led the team with receiving five touchdowns. [10] [11] The offensive line entered the season with "three returning players with starting experience: center Luke Lathan and guard Kalani Heppe and Curtis Crouch. He also has two inexperienced tackles and an overall lack of experience and depth," and ultimately, not a single member of the line earned even honorable mention all-conference accolades. [12] Punter Will Baumann was a first team all-conference honoree. [13]

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
QuarterTime Drive TeamScoring informationScore
Plays Yards TOP NCSUUCF
110:0612524:54UCF40-yard field goal by Shawn Moffitt03
16:119753:55NCST Jaylen Samuels 18-yard touchdown reception from Shadrach Thornton, Niklas Sade kick good73
212:3410673:25UCF Josh Reese 6-yard touchdown reception from Justin Holman, Shawn Moffitt kick good710
29:058783:29NCSTJohnathan Alston 37-yard touchdown reception from Jacoby Brissett, Niklas Sade kick good1410
23:169744:52NCST19-yard field goal by Niklas Sade1710
311:559753:05NCSTMatt Dayes 24-yard touchdown run, Niklas Sade kick good2410
35:458153:03UCF36-yard field goal by Shawn Moffitt2413
33:057752:40NCSTMatt Dayes 15-yard touchdown run, Niklas Sade kick good3113
412:375231:29NCST45-yard field goal by Niklas Sade3413
411:015751:36UCFJosh Reese 14-yard touchdown reception from Justin Holman, Shawn Moffitt kick good3420
41:4410701:12UCFJosh Reese 2-yard touchdown reception from Justin Holman, Shawn Moffitt kick good3427
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.3427

Source: [4]

Statistics

Statistics [4] NCSUUCF
First downs2621
Plays–yards66–48751–373
Rushes–yards49–18728–82
Passing yards300291
Passing: Comp–Att–Int17–28–023–53–1
Time of possession33:5126:09

Source: [14]

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