Mike Kruczek's bid for an undefeated conference season ended in his team's first ever conference game.
The Marshall Thundering Herd had the honor of being the first MAC team to take down Kruczek's Golden Knights as they handed Central Florida a 26-21 loss in front of 32,900 fans at Marshall Stadium Friday night in a game televised nationally on ESPN2. Prior to the season Kruczek boasted about the possibility of his team going 8-0 in MAC play.
The loss was the Knights' second on national TV this season. In their first game UCF fell on the road at Penn State on ESPN. Marshall improved their TV record to 1-1, back to even after dropping a Thursday night game at Virginia Tech last week.
While the Herd won on TV for the first time, Byron Leftwich may have lost in an individual sense. Marshall's quarterback is a top candidate for the Heisman Trophy, but failed to put up Heisman-like numbers against the Knights. He threw for 340 yards but had two interceptions to go along with his two touchdown passes, failing to make a major impression on voters who only see Marshall a few times a year . when they play on TV.
Fortunately for Marshall their running game, which has been non-existent this season, finally stepped up to take some of the pressure off of Leftwich. Brandon Carey had a breakout night, scoring a touchdown and gaining 142 yards rushing - a career high.
"That might be the worst game I played my entire career, but thankfully Brandon and the defense bailed me out," Leftwich said. "That is why we call it a team. I don't have to win the game by myself."
"I wasn't surprised (Carey) had some good runs," Kruczek said. "Anytime you've got a passing attack like Marshall, a guy that can pull the trigger and the weapons Marshall has outside, you've got to honor what they do. It spreads people and creates seams for them to run."
Leftwich threw for over 400 yards against VT, but his team's blowout loss has also hurt his chances at college football's biggest award. He will have one more TV opportunity when Marshall hosts Miami (OH) November 12 on ESPN.
UCF had one last chance to win the game but their final possession ended with an interception by Terence Tarpley at the Marshall 26 yard line.
Miami (OH) quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for only 198 yards and had two interceptions but his 7-yard touchdown pass to Michael Larkin in the third quarter proved to be the game winner as the RedHawks squeaked past Kent State 27-20 Saturday.
RedHawks' running back Luke Clemens ran two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter - a 1-yard run and an 11-yard run - to give Miami the early lead.
"I was a little out of sync today. I give a lot of credit to their defense," Roethlisberger said. "They came out and played hard just like we thought they would. However, our running game was dominant today and Luke did a great job. Sometimes when the passing attack isn't working you have to run the ball. I think we did a great job of adjusting today."
Kent State quarterback Joshua Cribbs answered with two touchdown runs of his own - a second quarter run of 25 yards and a 4-yard run in the third - during a 17-point run by the Golden Flashes, setting the stage for Roethlisberger's go-ahead TD pass.
Quarterback Josh Harris scored three touchdowns in Bowling Green's 39-16 win over Kansas. The Falcons are 5-0 against BCS teams under Head Coach Urban Meyer . UConn scored 24 unanswered fourth quarter points to blow away Ohio 37-19 . Clemson scored 30 unanswered points in their 30-7 win over Ball State . Akron quarterback Charlie Frye threw for one touchdown and ran for two others but it wasn't enough as his team fell to Virginia 48-29 . Indiana was down 29-16 but came back to beat Central Michigan 39-29 . Maryland blew out Eastern Michigan 45-3 . Running back William Bratton had three touchdowns in Toledo's 38-21 triumph over UNLV . Reggie Gray's 5-yard touchdown run with 1:10 left in the fourth quarter led Western Illinois over Northern Illinois 29-26.
