Knights Take the Thunder Out of the Herd

UCF won their fourth game of the season over the Marshall Thundering Heard by a score of 35-14

Why UCF won the game

A one hour and eight minute lightning delay could not deter the UCF rushing attack. The run game busted out for 248 yards and accounted for all four offensive touchdowns for the Knights. The strong running game helped UCF hold a 40-20 advantage in time of possession. The UCF defense had a solid game, and defensive back A.J. Bouye recorded the second defensive touchdown for the Knights in as many games.

Why Marshall lost the game

Contrary to the UCF offense, The Marshall run attack could not get itself started. Going up against the nation’s 9^th ranked rush defense, the Herd ground attack finished the game with only 37 yards. Marshall struggled to sustain drives on offense often becoming too reliant on the big play to try to generate a score. The highlight for the Thundering Herd was an 86 yard catch and run touchdown by receiver Aaron Dobson.

Game Ball:

Ronnie Weaver and the UCF run game. Weaver set a career high in rushing yards with 150 while averaging 5 yards per carry. His 30 carries helped UCF hold a 20 minute lead in time of possession. Weaver’s emergence as a featured back has gone a long way in solidifying the UCF offense and has helped ease the loss of projected starter Brynn Harvey. Jeff Godfrey was also impressive despite his mediocre stat line, as he was able to hold the offense together despite the unorthodox break in the second quarter.

What this all means:

The Knights move to 2-0 in Conference USA. UCF will need to carry its dominating play from Wednesday back to the weekend as their schedule shifts back to normal. Half way through the season UCF sits atop C-USA East with only conference games left on their schedule.

Up Next:

The Knights end their streak of consecutive Wednesday night games at two, and return home to take on the Rice Owls next Saturday for homecoming. Rice will be the Knight’s first opponent from Conference USA’s West division. The Owls currently own a 1-5 record overall, 0-2 in conference play. These two teams met last season at Rice and the Knights came away with their largest victory of the season to the tune of 49-7.

Notes:

• QB Rob Calabrese was injured after scoring a TD in the first quarter and did not return. Junior LD Crow saw his first action for UCF spelling Godfrey in the second half.
• Due to the lengthy weather delay in the second quarter, half time was shortened to the length of a normal quarter break.
• Jamar Newsome broke a big kick return early in the second half going 70 yards to help set up Godfrey’s eventual TD run.
• UCF only had one penalty which went for two yards