UCF @ Marshall football preview

This is not the season the defending Conference USA champion Central Florida Knights had in mind.

Coming off a memorable 2007 season that resulted in an appearance in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, the Knights will not only be unable to defend their title. They won’t even be going to a bowl.

Following last week’s 17-6 loss to Southern Miss, the Knights lost their fourth consecutive game, fell out of bowl eligibility and dropped to 2-7. So now, the onus is on coach George O’Leary and his staff to make the most out of a disappointing situation as the team travels to Marshall Saturday.

UCF has three games remaining including Marshall, Memphis and UAB. The best the Knights can do is 5-7. While it may not be anything exciting, the idea is to take as much out of November as possible and use it as momentum into spring football.

There will be a lot of work ahead of this program, especially on the offensive side because the production has been so limited. The nation’s worst offense could muster only 208 yards against the Golden Eagles and saw its average drop to 234 yards per game.

Expect O’Leary to stay with the quarterback rotation between Rob Calabrese and Michael Greco. There really is no rationale behind who gets more of the snaps.

Two weeks ago, Greco had all of the passing attempts against East Carolina. Last week, Calabrese attempted 30 of the 33 passes. What that likely means is that O’Leary is confounded by who he can turn to at this point. Fortunately, the two have thrown only nine interceptions.

The running game’s ills have been noteworthy. Ronnie Weaver’s role has diminished meaning that Brynn Harvey is earning more carries. Harvey has been the leading ball carrier for the last three games against Tulsa, ECU and Southern Miss.

Marshall’s offense has been somewhat respectable this year but nothing electric. Darius Marshall leads in rushing with 741 yards, but the offense is only averaging 144 yards. Quarterback Mark Cann has been solid throwing the football with 1,652 yards.

Third down has been a pretty decent down for the Thundering Herd. The team is converting 38 percent of the time. That will usually keep drives alive and a chance for points.

UCF’s winning formula is pretty simple. The Knights simply have to find a way to put drives together and score. They’ve only scored 35 points in the last three games and that isn’t going to work when the college game is played at such a rapid level.

They know they can count on their defense to keep them in it. But for how long before this unit tires and does no more than what is asked?

Prediction: Marshall 22, UCF 10

Notable:

• Saturday denotes the 150 th game in Central Florida history as a FBS school. The program is 70-79 all-time.

• The Knights' defense is second in the nation in tackles for loss (77) and 12 th in sacks (26).

Central Florida Knights (2-7, 1-4) @ Marshall Thundering Herd (4-5, 3-2)

Time: 4:30 p.m. EST
Site: Joan C. Edwards Stadium, Huntington, W. Va.
TV: CSS
Series: 7th meeting. Series tied, 3-3