HUNTINGTON — Central Florida found a way to produce points in the punting game without Joe Burnett being a factor.

Marshall committed one error after another in punting situations and the Knights pounced on the opportunities. The result was a 30-14 UCF win Saturday that placed the Herd’s backs to the wall of bowl eligibility.

Keeping the ball away from Burnett, one of the best punt returners in the nation, was a focal point for the Herd. They did that, but they also made enough mistakes to blow a golden opportunity to put heat on East Carolina in the Conference USA East Division race.

ECU, which beat Marshall last week for a one-game lead in the East, lost 21-3 to Southern Miss on Saturday. A Herd win would have placed them in a deadlock atop the division. Instead, ECU can lock up the division next week with a win or a Herd loss.

Marshall (4-6, 3-3) now faces a must-win end to the season, needing wins at Rice and at home against nationally ranked Tulsa to reach the six wins required for bowl eligibility.

“Like coach said, we just have to put this game behind us and get ready for next week,” sophomore running back Darius Marshall said.

Marshall finished with 162 yards on 16 carries, his third straight 100-yard game and sixth of the season. He broke off three runs of more than 20 yards and had a 61-yard gain on the first play of a third-quarter drive that ended on Mark Cann’s 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cody Slate. It got the Herd to within 20-14 with 9:50 left in the third.

But the rest of the Herd offense was dreadful. It started early — the Herd had zero points, zero first downs and zero total offensive yards in the first quarter.

Other than the TD pass, Cann struggled. The redshirt freshman made poor decisions, consistently overshot his receivers and was intercepted by Sha’reff Rashad once in each half. Both set up 24-yard field goals by Nick Cattoi.

Rashad now has five picks on the season.

Cann finished 4-of-17 for 32 yards before being replaced by sophomore Brian Anderson in the fourth quarter. Anderson was just as ineffective, completing 3 of 12 passes for 52 yards.

UCF outgained the Herd 242-229 on a cold, windy, rainy Huntington evening.

“There were a lot of things that hurt us in this game, not just two interceptions,” Marshall said.

“Two weeks in a row we have been anemic on offense and have had a couple of busts in special teams,” Marshall coach Mark Snyder said.

It again proved to be a fatal combination for the Herd.

UCF took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter despite having zero total offensive yards when a punt snap went through the hands of Marshall’s Kase Whitehead and to the end zone. Jamar Newsome fell on the ball for a touchdown with 11:07 to play in the quarter.

The Knights were forced to punt on their next possession, and punter Blake Clingan could not handle the snap. However, the ball took a favorable hop and was picked up by Clingan, who scurried 16 yards to the Marshall 39 for a first down.

The drive ended on Cattoi’s 27-yard field goal, and UCF led 10-0 with 3:32 left in the first.

Marshall trailed 13-7 late in the second when UCF was forced to punt again. And, again, another mistake led to a Knights’ score.

Senior Emmanuel Spann muffed the punt and UCF recovered at the Marshall 1. Brynn Harvey was dropped for a one-yard loss, but quarterback Rob Calabrese found tight end John Lubischer open in the end zone for a touchdown and 20-7 edge.

Illustrating just how bad the game was going, the Herd was called for defensive holding on the Knights’ next punt. That gave UCF a first down, but it later had to punt again, this time with no repercussions against the Herd right before the half ended.

Calabrese’s TD pass in the second quarter was his first completion of the game.

Most of the offense came on the ground. Harvey led the Knights with a career-high 150 yards on 33 carries. His 50-yard touchdown run late in the fourth wrapped up what was already a done deal.

Through the air, UCF (3-7, 2-4) was just as bad as the Herd. Calabrese was also 4-of-17 and finished with 29 yards, three fewer than Cann.

The dagger came on, fittingly, a fake punt. On fourth-and-4 from his 30, Clingan tucked the ball and ran five yards for a first down to extend a drive late in the fourth when the Herd was still down by nine.

“I’m happy for our football team,” said UCF coach George O’Leary, whose team snapped a four-game losing streak. “I thought it was a solid win against a Marshall team that has been playing fairly consistent this year.”

It was Marshall’s first homecoming loss since 1992 and the Knights’ fourth straight win in the series, all with Snyder at the helm.

The Herd got on the board in the second quarter on a drive that began on the Knights’ two. A punt by Whitehead somehow got by Burnett and Lee Smith recovered.

Chubb Small carried in from a yard out to make it 13-7.

But Lubischer’s touchdown gave those points back to UCF.

The Herd visits Rice, led by the vaunted duo of quarterback Chase Clement and receiver Jarrett Dillard, at 3 p.m. Eastern time next Saturday.

— E-mail:

gfauber@register-herald.com



UCF 30, MARSHALL 14

UCF (3-7) 10 10 3 7 — 30

MU (4-6) 0 7 7 0 — 14

First Quarter

UCF—Newsome recovered fumble in end zone (Cattoi kick), 11:07.

UCF—FG Cattoi 27, 3:32.

Second Quarter

UCF—FG Cattoi 24, 8:29.

Mar—Small 1 run (Ratanamorn kick), 5:59.

UCF—Lubischer 2 pass from Calabrese (Cattoi kick), 4:16.

Third Quarter

Mar—Slate 15 pass from Cann (Ratanamorn kick), 9:50.

UCF—FG Cattoi 24, 3:02.

Fourth Quarter

UCF—Harvey 50 run (Cattoi kick), 2:40.

A—24,059.

UCF Mar

First downs 17 8

Rushes-yards 65-213 29-145

Passing 29 84

Comp-Att-Int 4-17-0 7-29-2

Return Yards 87 (-7)

Punts-Avg. 7-41.9 7-39.6

Fumbles-Lost 4-1 3-2

Penalties-Yards 8-46 8-65

Time of Possession 38:10 21:50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—UCF, Harvey 33-150, Murray 15-46, Clingan 2-21, K.Williams 1-7, Calabrese 11-(minus 5), Team 3-(minus 6). Marshall, Marshall 16-142, Small 8-16, Cann 2-9, Beardain 1-(minus 1), Anderson 1-(minus 4), Team 1-(minus 17).

PASSING—UCF, Calabrese 4-17-0-29. Marshall, Cann 4-17-2-32, Anderson 3-12-0-52.

RECEIVING—UCF, K.Williams 2-12, Watters 1-15, Lubischer 1-2. Marshall, Slate 2-46, Milligan 2-12, Small 1-18, Passmore 1-5, Spann 1-3.