The University of Central Florida's march through the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs ended abruptly Saturday with a 44-7 semifinal loss to Georgia Southern in front of 13,183 at Paulson Stadium. The Eagles (11-3), the defending national champions, stay home at Paulson Stadium for the championship game next Saturday against the winner of the Nevada-Boise State game. The Knights, 10-4 in their first year in Division I-AA, were victimized by too much Georgia Southern tradition (three national titles in five years) and too much Georgia Southern defense (10 sacks for 48 yards). "In our first year in I-AA, to make the final four is a great accomplishment," said Knights senior running back Mark Giacone. "Of course, if you're a competitor, you're never satisfied." The Eagles led 9-7 at halftime after UCF junior quarterback Ron Johnson marched his team 79 yards for an 18-yard touchdown pass to senior Sean Beckton in the final minute of the second quarter. A 55-yard touchdown run by senior running back Joe Ross on Georgia Southern's first play from scrimmage in the second half extended the lead back to nine at 16-7 and started a run of 35 straight points for the Eagles. "It was important to us to go out in the second half and answer their touchdown in the first half," Ross said. "We answered their score with a score, but they didn't answer back." Ross' run might never have happened if the Knights had made the right call on the opening coin toss. When Georgia Southern won the toss and deferred to the second half, a UCF captain told the referee the Knights would kick. That meant the Eagles got the ball to start each half, and Ross' back-breaking run was the result. "I'm not going to mention which captain made the choice," UCF head coach Gene McDowell said. "But I made a very painstaking effort to explain to the entire team what the (coin-toss) process is. There's no doubt had they kicked off to us in the second half, the game would not have taken such a drastic turn against us." It was the Eagles' second victory over the Knights this season. Georgia Southern beat UCF 38-17 in Orlando's Citrus Bowl on Oct. 20. The Eagles have beaten the Knights eight straight times. The Eagles' defense stymied the UCF running game. The Knights, averaging 228 rushing yards per game, were held to 57 yards on the ground Saturday. Giacone, who had rushed for 1,224 yards coming in, had only 10 attempts for 45 yards. "I don't think we really ever gave our running game much of a chance," McDowell said. The Knights' passing attack was deflated by the Eagles' season-high 10 sacks of Johnson, five in each half.