UCF @ Memphis football preview

It appeared to be such a weird feeling. Central Florida scored points. A lot of them.

And won.

The Knights snapped a four-game losing streak because they were opportunistic in their 30-14 win at Marshall. They took advantage of four Marshall turnovers including recovering a fumble in the end zone.

For the first time in a month, they could feel good again. If the Knights are going to win games for the remainder of the season, their defense is going to have to set up their offense with near perfect conditions.

So as Central Florida travels to Memphis Saturday, the idea of playing spoiler appears to be OK. The Knights virtually made it impossible for the Thundering Herd to qualify for a bowl. They can make it the same way for Memphis. Tigers coach Tommy West could be fighting for his job.

But the other good sighting was that Brynn Harvey rushed for a career-high 150 yards including the game-clinching 50-yard touchdown run. It was also the best performance by a UCF running back this season.

Coach George O’Leary had to like the way his defense continues to play at a high level. Not only did the unit create havoc, it limited the Marshall offense to 229 total yards.

Well, it will get its best test of the Conference USA season when it faces Memphis tailback Curtis Steele who is at 1,002 yards for the season. They should see a lot of him because Memphis has been going through quarterback issues this season.

The Tigers appear to be down to Brett Toney, a fourth-string quarterback who is only asked to be the caretaker. But he does have a nice target in 6-8 Carlos Singleton who leads the team with 48 receptions. Without saying it, Singleton is a matchup problem.

Led by linebacker Bruce Miller, the pass rush the Knight defense creates will make the difference.

However, the Knight’s offense cannot expect to have it this good each week. If Harvey could give them about 100-115 yards in each of the last two games against Memphis and UAB, they have a chance to win out and finish 5-7.

They just aren’t getting anything from the quarterback position. Even in last week’s win, quarterback Rob Calabrese threw for just 29 yards.

Last week, everything went right for the Knights to get the win. It’s hard to think that can happen again. But who knows.

Prediction: Central Florida 19, Memphis 15

Notable:

• 66 Central Florida players have been going through season wearing the helmet decal recognizing them as a “scholar-baller.’’ Players earn it by reaching a 3.0 GPA in the last semester or by earning a degree regardless of GPA.

• Although they are out of conference and bowl contention, the Knights are returning to the Liberty Bowl sight of where they played as the CUSA representative in last year’s AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Mississippi St. beat UCF, 10-3.

Central Florida Knights (3-7, 2-4) @ Memphis Tigers (5-5, 3-3)

Time: 2 p.m. EST
Site: Liberty Bowl, Memphis
TV: None
Series: 5th meeting. Central Florida leads, 3-1