UCF VS FLORIDA HIGHLIGHTS | 2021 GASPARILLA BOWL | 2022

UCF VS FLORIDA HIGHLIGHTS | 2021 GASPARILLA BOWL | 2022 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHTS

UCF Knights beat Florida for first college football win over Gators, Sunshine State bragging rights

As the final seconds ticked off UCF's 29-17 win over Florida in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl on Thursday night, the UCF football Twitter handle was quick to make a declaration: "Sunshine STATEment."

Indeed, UCF not only made history with its first win over Florida. It was also UCF's first win over any Power 5 program in the state. At 9-4, UCF finishes this season with the best record in Florida -- the same way it did in 2017 and 2018.

For Florida, it was another embarrassing loss to end a season filled with them. The Gators opened the season ranked No. 14. By the end of it, coach Dan Mullen had been fired and they finished 6-7, their first losing season since 2017. It was also the program's first loss to an in-state school not named Florida State or Miami since Stetson in 1938. And the Knights won the game despite a long injury list to some of their top players, including quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who is no longer with the team after transferring to UCLA.

To be sure, UCF is no longer the program that lost the last meeting between the schools 42-0 in 2006. The Knights have won a combined 50 games over the past five years, their most in any five-season span in program history.

And they are headed to the Big 12, eager to join the ranks of the "Big Three" in Florida and to finally have it be known as the "Big Four" once and for all.

"This is just the beginning," Malzahn said on the television broadcast after the game. "I really believe we've got big dreams, we've got big goals. We can win the whole thing here. Tonight was just the first step. Recruiting's going to go really good now."