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By SHARON GINN, Times Staff WriterTurnovers and an ill-timed offensive drought cost UCF in a 44-27 championship game loss to Tulsa.
ORLANDO - Last week, the UCF coaches who had won championships talked to their players about how it felt to win a ring, and in some cases even brought them in to show them off. One more win, they said as the team prepared for the inaugural Conference USA championship game, and this could be yours.
But as close as a conference title dangled in front of them Saturday, the Golden Knights just couldn't grab it.
UCF hung with Tulsa until halftime, but the Golden Hurricane shut down the Knights' offense in the second half on the way to a 44-27 victory at the Citrus Bowl. Tulsa outscored UCF 13-0 in the final two quarters and held the Golden Knights to 55 second-half yards by keeping up the pressure on junior quarterback Steven Moffett.
Moffett was sacked four times, fumbled twice and threw two interceptions. Three of those turnovers were in the second half.
"The offense was just breaking down, I was turning the ball over," Moffett said. "That usually doesn't happen to us."
All season the Golden Knights (8-4) had won close games by creating turnovers, but this time they couldn't come up with any. And Tulsa (8-4) controlled the clock in the second half, keeping possession for 20 minutes and 47 seconds, meaning a worn-out UCF defense was less likely to make big plays.
"By any means, (Moffett) wasn't the reason for today's loss," coach George O'Leary said. "When you lose, you lose as a team."
With its victory, Tulsa earned an invitation to the Dec.31 Liberty Bowl in Memphis. As C-USA's No.2 team, UCF also earns a bowl bid, which likely will come from the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu.
But even the chance of a free trip to Hawaii wasn't enough to brighten the mood in the locker room. Considering the Golden Knights went 0-11 last season and did not end their 17-game losing streak until late September, O'Leary saw his players' long faces as a sign they aren't willing to settle.
"I have to look at where we started, and where we ended up," O'Leary said. "Are we where we need to be yet? No. But we're working quickly to get there."
UCF came out as if it were in a hurry to prove something, driving 80 yards on the first series for an easy touchdown, capped by Moffett's 43-yard pass to freshman Willie Thornton.
Tulsa, though, scored the next 21. The Hurricane responded with equally effortless drives of 80 and 68 yards, and it scored a third time after Moffett was intercepted by Nick Graham, who returned the ball 58 yards. Two plays later, a 2-yard run by Uril Parrish gave Tulsa a 21-7 lead.
The Golden Knights took the lead one more time, scoring 17 in a row on the next three drives. Freshman tailback Kevin Smith broke away for a 31-yard touchdown run, kicker Matt Prater made a 46-yard field goal and freshman Joe Burnett returned a Tulsa punt 68 yards for a touchdown to make it 24-21.
Burnett, though, was penalized for excessive celebration, and the Hurricane took advantage of the field position that came from the penalty on the kickoff. Tulsa got a tying field goal out of that series and held momentum the rest of the way.
"They were the better football team," O'Leary said. "They controlled both sides of the line of scrimmage. We can't turn the ball over like we did, and we had some foolish penalties."
While the mistakes were still fresh, and painful, the Golden Knights said they hadn't lost sight of what they had accomplished.
"You look back on this season, and it's nothing but a success, I think," senior defensive end Paul Carrington said. "It's just hard right now that we didn't finish out as No.1 in the conference."