Of all the good fortune the University of Central Florida football team received this year, one moment sticks out for wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

"It was the experience to see the goalpost come down first-hand," Marshall said of the events that followed a 23-13 win over Marshall on Sept. 24, snapping a 17-game losing streak.

It was one of many highlights in a season that included the program's first bowl appearance, a Conference-USA Eastern Division title, and one of college football's greatest turnarounds.

UCF, which followed an 0-11 season by finishing 8-4, plays Nevada (8-3) in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl tomorrow at the Aloha Stadium. ESPN is televising the game live at 3:30 p.m.

"After an 0-17 (streak), I couldn't describe that feeling when the goalpost came down, and all the fans were out there," Marshall said. "The experience was great."

UCF coach George O'Leary called the Marshall victory the catalyst for the turnaround that resulted in a second-place finish in C-USA.

"Everything we did seemed to work, and the players started growing some confidence," he said. "And each and every week after that they grew."

O'Leary, the C-USA Coach of the Year, credits the turnaround to the attitude of the team.

"I thought this year we came out with a sort of 'Coach me, coach,' attitude, which is what you want," he said. "As long as you have that, you have a chance to get better each week."

And the Golden Knights got better despite having just 10 seniors on scholarship, and with 25 freshmen or sophomores starting.

"We're a very young football team and we play with a lot of young players," O'Leary said. "We got fortunate in the fourth quarter to win some games. But again, I'm happy to have our team here. It took us 11 hours to get here and every minute was worth it."

UCF placed 11 players on the all-conference teams, including tailback Kevin Smith, C-USA's Freshman of the Year, and freshman cornerback/punt returner Joe Burnett.

"Any time you have a true freshman who can come and play right away and play in Division I, that's an amazing thing," defensive end Paul Carrington said. "When you have guys like that who can come in and play right away, it just sets the tempo for the years to come for those guys. Because you know they're just going to get better and you know they'll do great things. And all the other guys will feed off of what they do."

Carrington, a fifth-year senior, said even with all the program's accomplishments this season, what stood out to him was the improvement he saw in himself and his teammates. "You always look to improve when you're unsuccessful," he said.

The numbers alone support Carrington's statement. In 2004, UCF was ranked 100 or lower in four categories: rushing offense (107th, 97.0 yards per game), scoring offense (113th, 15.9 points), scoring defense (100th, 32.9 points) and total offense (114th, 280 yards per game).

This season, its lowest rank was 76th, in rushing defense (163.1).

UCF is the seventh team in NCAA history to become bowl eligible after going winless the previous year.

"We've done a great job of sticking together, playing as a team," said Marshall, a senior all-conference second-team member.

Nevada coach Chris Ault also sees how team unity bolstered the Golden Knights.

"(O'Leary's) players are playing together, as one, as a unit," Ault said. "Believing in what they do and finding a way, when adversity comes up, to meet and defeat it ... they've done it."

DEAL EXTENDED

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts Hawai'i yesterday announced an extension of its agreement with ESPN Regional Television to remain the title sponsor of the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl through 2009, according to a news release.

The release said that a team from the Pac-10 Conference will face a team from the Western Athletic Conference in 2006 and 2008, while a team from Conference USA will play a team from the WAC in 2007 and 2009.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.