| 2005 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 24, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Aloha Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Halawa, Hawaii | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | WR Brandon Marshall (UCF) RB B.J. Mitchell (Nevada) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Scott Novak (MW) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 26,254 (tickets sold) 16,134 (turnstile)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$750,000 per team[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Dave Barnett, Craig James and Suzy Shuster | |||||||||||||||||||||
The 2005 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl matched the UCF Golden Knights against the Nevada Wolf Pack. The fourth edition of the Hawaii Bowl was held in Halawa, Hawaii and featured WAC champions Nevada versus Conference USA runner–up UCF. The game was sponsored by Sheraton Hotels and Resorts and was played on Christmas Eve.
UCF was one of the nation's best stories of the season. They had gone 0–11 the previous season and after starting the 2005 season 0–2, were riding a 17–game losing streak. They then accomplished one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA Division I-A history, as they won eight of their next nine games to reach the C-USA championship game. With a 7–1 conference record (8–3 overall), UCF lost to Tulsa to fall to 8–4. They were invited to the Hawaii Bowl, the program's first ever bowl appearance. It would be UCF's second visit to Hawaii. The Knights had faced the Rainbow Warriors back in 1995 as a Division I-AA team.
Nevada finished as Co-WAC Champions, winning seven out of their last eight games. Their only loss during that stretch was to Boise State. This was the Wolf Pack's first bowl appearance since the 1996 Las Vegas Bowl.
The game turned into a high–scoring shootout with Nevada alone racking up 623 yards of offense. UCF running back Kevin Smith rushed for 202 yards and three touchdowns, while wide receiver Brandon Marshall caught 11 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Trailing late in the game by ten points, UCF rallied to tie the score 42–42 and force overtime. Nevada scored a touchdown and extra point on their first overtime possession to take a 7–point lead. UCF scored a touchdown, but kicker Matt Prater, who would go on to kick an NFL-record 64-yard field goal on December 8, 2013, as a member of the Denver Broncos, missed the 60-foot extra point, sealing the victory for Nevada.