The2014 St. Petersburg Bowl, the seventh edition of the annual game, was acollege footballbowl game that was played on December 26, 2014 atTropicana Field inSt. Petersburg, Florida. The game matched theNC State Wolfpack of theAtlantic Coast Conference against theAmerican Athletic Conference co-championUCF Knights.^[5] The game began at 8:00 p.m.EST and aired onESPN. It was one of the2014–15 bowl games concluding the2014 FBS football season. The Wolfpack defeated the Knights, 34–27.

After four playings named after theBeef O'Brady's restaurant franchise, the bowl reverted to its original name, the St. Petersburg Bowl. Sponsored byonline payment processorBitPay, the game was officially known as theBitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl.

The game featured theNC State Wolfpack of theAtlantic Coast Conference and theAmerican Athletic Conference co-championUCF 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.

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.

After finishing their regular season with a 9–3 record and winning a share of theAmerican 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. TheKnights previously lost the2009 game to theRutgers Scarlet Knights by a score of 45–24, andthey later won the2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl over theBall State Cardinals by a score of 38–17.

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] FreshmanBo Hines led an inexperienced receiving corps with 42 receptions for 537 yards, while tight endDavid 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]

Source:^[4]

Source:^[14]

• Box score atESPN

• 2014–15 NCAA football bowl games
• Gasparilla Bowl
• NC State Wolfpack football bowl games
• UCF Knights football bowl games
• 2014 in sports in Florida
• December 2014 sports events in the United States
• 21st century in St. Petersburg, Florida

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