FACTS & STATS: Site: Joan C. Edwards Stadium (38,016) -- Huntington, West Virginia. Television: CSS. Home Record: UCF 2-3, Marshall 3-1. Away Record: UCF 0-4, Marshall 1-4. Neutral Record: UCF 0-0, Marshall 0-0. Conference Record: UCF 1-4, Marshall 3-2. Series Record: Series is tied, 3-3.

GAME NOTES: In a Conference USA matchup, the UCF Knights hit the road to take on the Thundering Herd of Marshall this Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia. What a difference a year makes for the Knights. This time last year UCF was playing for a conference championship, now with the team officially eliminated from bowl consideration, it is playing for next year. The Knights enter this week's game sitting at the bottom of C-USA's East Division, tied with the Blazers of UAB, against whom they end their season on November 29th. The Knights can play the role of spoiler the next two weeks when they take on the Herd and the Memphis Tigers, both of whom have a chance of finishing atop the East Division. Marshall enters this week's game on a down note after dropping a heartbreaker to East Carolina on the road in overtime, 19-16. If the Herd want to be considered for a bowl, the team needs to rebound quickly and put last week's loss behind them and take care of business against a struggling UCF team. If, however, Marshall slips up against UCF, a matchup against a very good Rice team, may not mean anything. These two schools have met six times previously with each winning three times. As members of the Mid-American Conference, the Thundering Herd won all three meetings and since the two schools moved to C-USA together, UCF has won the last three matchups.

UCF has lost its last four games and in its last two games, both at home, the team has scored a total of 16 points. Most of the blame for this underachieving team can be placed on the offense as it has struggled to score on a consistent basis. The Knights are averaging an anemic 15.7 ppg, worst in C-USA and just 234.3 ypg in total offense, which ranks last in the nation. As a team, the Knights rank dead-last in the conference in passing and are second-to-last in rushing, ahead of only SMU. In its last game, a loss to Southern Miss, UCF scored first on an 11-play, 91-yard drive. After missing an extra point, the Golden Eagles scored 16 unanswered points and held the Knights to just 86 second-half yards. The Knights, in their final 11 possessions of the game, threw two interceptions, had eight punts and turned the ball over on downs once. Quarterback Rob Calbrese passed for 141 yards in the game but completed just 40 percent of his passes and threw two picks. Brian Watters, the Knights' leading receiver on the season, had five catches for 71 yards. That was about all the offensive highlights for the Knights which has pretty much been the story all season long.

Not all is doom and gloom for the Knights, as while the offense has been a big disappointment, the same can not be said for the defense. UCF fields one of the best defenses in C-USA as the team leads the way in pass efficiency defense (112.50 rating) and is second in both total defense (343.0 ypg) and rushing defense (122.9 ypg). The Knights are allowing a respectable 26.6 ppg but with an offense that can not score, they could rank in the top 10 in the nation and it wouldn't matter. In the loss to Southern Miss, the Knights allowed the Golden Eagles to rush for 150 yards but it took 54 carries to reach that mark. Also impressive in the loss was the pressure the Knights put on the Eagles as the team had five sacks on the day, which gives them 26 on the year, ranking 12th nationally. Bruce Miller has five sacks for UCF which is best on the team. The Knights are also among the best in the country at causing turnovers, having logged 15 picks on the season, which ranks them eighth nationally. Johnell Neal leads the team with four interceptions.

Marshall's offense has been less than "thundering" this season and in the loss at East Carolina, not much was different. The Herd gained more yards on the ground than they did through the air with running back Darius Marshall doing most of the damage. Marshall rushed 20 times for 123 yards, averaging over six yards per carry. Marshall has now rushed for over 100 yards in back-to-back games and has five 100-yard rushing games on the season. The Herd's passing attack, however, was a different story. Unlike his performance in the win over Houston, QB Mark Cann struggled to find any sort of rhythm. He completed fewer than 45 percent of his passes with two touchdowns but he also threw two picks. Both of Canon's touchdown passes went to TE Cody Slate, who caught five balls for 62 yards. With his two touchdown grabs, Slate increased his total on the season to six, best on the team. The Herd's top receiving threat, Darius Passmore, who leads the team in receptions and receiving yards, had just two catches against ECU. Marshall ranks sixth in C-USA in rushing offense but next-to-last in passing offense, ahead of only UCF.

The Thundering Herd has been inconsistent on the defensive side of the ball this season. Marshall gives up a lot of yards, 422.6 ypg, which is eighth in C-USA, however, it allows the second-fewest points per game (25.4 ppg). Against Southern Miss, the Herd only allowed 100 yards rushing on 38 carries, but the Golden Eagles amassed 287 yards through the air. All told, it was still one of Marshall's best defensive efforts of the season, as the Herd held USM below its season scoring average of 31.9 ppg and well below its rushing average of 206.6 ypg. Mario Harvey and DeQuan Bembry led the way defensively with 14 and 13 tackles, respectively. Harvey has been one of the best defensive players in the conference as he ranks in the top 10 in tackles (69), sacks (4.5), forced fumbles (two) and fumble recoveries (two).

This is a must-win for the Thundering Herd if they have any chance to play in a bowl game, but even though the Knights have not been very good, they will give everything they have. For the sole reason of desperation, Marshall should come out on top.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Marshall 20, UCF 19