The 2010 Liberty Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

postseason

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, on December 31, 2010. The 52nd edition of the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

matched up the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) against the UCF Knights, the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

champions. With sponsorship from AutoZone, the game was officially the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The game was won by UCF, 10–6. The game marked UCF's second appearance in the Liberty Bowl. In the 2007 edition, the Knights had lost to Mississippi State. With a 1–1 record in prior appearances, this was Georgia's third trip to the Liberty Bowl.

Teams

Georgia running back

Caleb King Caleb King (born January 10, 1988) is a former American football running back who was a member of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Vikings as a rookie free agent in 2011. He played college footbal ...

, backup cornerback Derek Owens and reserve offensive tackle A. J. Harmon were suspended for the Liberty Bowl for academic issues.

Game notes

The victory marked UCF's first-ever bowl win. No. 25 UCF and Georgia faced each other in the second meeting between the two schools. The Bulldogs won the previous meeting, 24-23, in 1999, in a game sometimes known as the " Burglary Between the Hedges."UCF Liberty Bowl win against Georgia would avenge Burglary Between the Hedges
/ref> The Knights started fast out of the gate, with

Quincy McDuffie Quincy McDuffie (born September 24, 1990) is an American professional Canadian football wide receiver and return specialist who is currently a free agent. He was most recently a member of the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CF ...

returning the opening kickoff 95-yards for a touchdown, but the play was called back due to a holding penalty. Georgia took a 3-0 lead behind a 95-yard drive later in the first quarter. Late in the second quarter, an interception by UCF's Josh Linam set up a 22-yard field goal, and a 3-3 tie at halftime. With Georgia leading 6-3 in the fourth quarter, UCF quarterback

Jeffrey Godfrey Jeffrey Godfrey IV (born January 1, 1992) is a former American football Slotback. Godfrey played for the University of Central Florida Knights. He led the Knights to the Conference USA Championship in his freshman year (2010), becoming the first ...

drove the Knights 65 yards for the game's first touchdown, and a 10-6 lead. In the final seconds, Georgia had an attempt at a potential game-winning "hail mary" pass, but it was knocked down by Kemal Ishmael as time expired. Latavius Murray rushed for 104 yards on 18 carries, with one touchdown, earning him Liberty Bowl MVP honors.

Scoring summary

References

Liberty Bowl Georgia Bulldogs football bowl games UCF Knights football bowl games 2010 in sports in Tennessee December 2010 sports events in the United States {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub