2007 Conference USA Football Championship Game
Introduction The '''2007 Conference USA Football Championship Game''' was played on December 1, 2007, between the UCF Knights, the champion of C-USA's East Division, and the West Division champion, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, at Bright House Networks Stadium (now known as Spectrum Stadium) in Orlando, Florida. The game kicked off at 12:00 pm EST and was televised by ESPN.
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 Tulsa's 6–2, the game was held at the Knights' home field.Tulsa and UCF met at the C-USA Championship for the second time; Tulsa beat UCF at the Florida Citrus Bowl (now known as Camping World Stadium) in Downtown Orlando in 2005 by a score of 44–27.Kevin Smith continued his dominance, running for 284 yards with 4 touchdowns. Tulsa kept it close in the first half as UCF's defense seemed slow to get started. In the second half, however, they only scored on a safety. Paul Smith, the Tulsa quarterback, threw for 426 yards and three touchdowns, but also gave up three interceptions. UCF won their first ever conference title in football.Kevin Smith finished the game with 2,448 rushing yards on the season, second all-time for single-season rushing yards in FBS history. Only Barry Sanders, who rushed for 2,628 yards in 1989 for Oklahoma State, rushed for more yards in a single season.
Teams === Tulsa Golden Hurricane ===Under Head Coach Todd Graham, Tulsa finished the 2007 regular season 9–3 (6–2) with a powerful offense averaging over 41 points per game, but their defense was a struggle all season letting up 33 points per game. Their offense was mostly powered by their talented quarterback Paul Smith who had 5,065 passing yards and 47 touchdowns on the season. Current Auburn Head Coach Gus Malzahn was in his first year as Tulsa's Offensive Coordinator.=== UCF Knights ===UCF was led to a 9–3 regular season record with a 7–1 conference record by Head Coach George O'Leary in 2007.UCF also had a prolific offense that averaged 35.9 points per game and were led by their Running Back Kevin Smith who had one of the best seasons a college football running back has ever had, rushing a record 450 times for 2,567 yards and 30 total touchdowns. UCF did most of their damage on the ground, as quarterback Kyle Israel threw for 2,173 yards and 15 touchdowns to his 11 interceptions.
Game Statistic Leaders === Passing Yards ==='''TLSA'''P. Smith28-55, 426 YDS, 3 TD, 3 INT'''UCF'''K. Israel6-13, 128 YDS=== Rushing Yards ==='''TLSA'''T. Adams18 CAR, 41 YDS'''UCF'''K. Smith39 CAR, 284 YDS, 4 TD=== Receiving Yards ==='''TLSA'''C. Clay6 REC, 112 YDS, 1 TD'''UCF'''R. Ross3 REC, 63 YDS
Team Statistics MatchupTulsaUCF1st Downs24183rd down efficiency8-213-104th down efficiency3-50-0Total Yards470436Passing491134Comp-Att29-576-13Yards per pass7.79.8Interceptions thrown30Rushing32308Rushing Attempts3549Yards per rush0.96.3Penalties8-743-25Turnovers31Fumbles lost01Interceptions thrown30Possession19:4016:14
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTERTLSAUCFFG10:54Michael Torres 28-yard field goal GOOD.ucf drive: 7 plays 47 yards, 02:38 ucf fg, 2:3803PUNT7:52Michael Such punt for 43 yards, returned by Joe Burnett for 83 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.tulsa drive: 5 plays 1 yard, 03:02 tulsa punt, 3:0209XP9:55Michael Torres extra point GOOD.ucf drive: 1 play 83 yards, 00:00 ucf td, 0:00010PASS4:58Paul Smith pass complete to Charles Clay for 22 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.tulsa drive: 7 plays 65 yards, 02:54 tulsa td, 2:54610XP4:58Jarod Tracy extra point GOOD.tulsa drive: 7 plays 65 yards, 02:54 tulsa td, 2:54710PASS1:56Paul Smith pass complete to Jacob Collums for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.tulsa drive: 5 plays 48 yards, 00:56 tulsa td, 0:561310SECOND QUARTERTLSAUCFRUSH13:18Kevin Smith rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.ucf drive: 8 plays 69 yards, 03:38 ucf td, 3:381316XP13:18Michael Torres extra point GOOD.ucf drive: 8 plays 69 yards, 03:38 ucf td, 3:381317RUSH10:03Kevin Smith rush for 46 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.ucf drive: 2 plays 69 yards, 00:29 ucf td, 0:291324XP10:03Michael Torres extra point GOOD.ucf drive: 2 plays 69 yards, 00:29 ucf td, 0:291324PASS7:38Paul Smith pass complete to Trae Johnson for 27 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.tulsa drive: 6 plays 72 yards, 02:25 tulsa td, 2:251924XP7:38Jarod Tracy extra point GOOD.tulsa drive: 6 plays 72 yards, 02:25 tulsa td, 2:252024RUSH3:29Kevin Smith rush for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.ucf drive: 9 plays 69 yards, 04:09 ucf td, 4:092030XP3:29Michael Torres extra point GOOD.ucf drive: 9 plays 69 yards, 04:09 ucf td, 4:092031FG1:38Jarod Tracy 32-yard field goal GOOD.tulsa drive: 9 plays 50 yards, 01:51 tulsa fg, 1:512331THIRD QUARTERTLSAUCFFG4:01Michael Torres 21-yard field goal GOOD.ucf drive: 6 plays 36 yards, 02:50 ucf fg, 2:502334FG0:03Michael Torres 45-yard field goal GOOD.ucf drive: 7 plays 9 yards, 02:00 ucf fg, 2:002337FOURTH QUARTERTLSAUCFSF10:56Kyle Israel rush for a loss of 2 yards, fumbled in the endzone, recovered by Kyle Israel for a SAFETY.ucf drive: 1 play -2 yards, 00:05 ucf saf, 0:052537RUSH7:12Kevin Smith rush for 74 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.ucf drive: 4 plays 89 yards, 02:12 ucf td, 2:122544XP7:12Michael Torres extra point GOOD.ucf drive: 4 plays 89 yards, 02:12 ucf td, 2:122544
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