Marshall runs past University of Central Fla., 21-7

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Marshall University and the University of Central Florida have built reputations as wide-open, pass happy football programs.
So what do the two Mid-American Conference teams do for a national television audience Wednesday night? Run the ball. And run and run.
Marshall outran UCF, winning the conservative game 21-7 before 18,141 fans at the Florida Citrus Bowl and a national television audience watching on ESPN.
"That's not the way we usually win, but we challenged our guys to run it and they were successful," said Marshall coach Bob Pruett, whose team improved to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the MAC. "We just came out here and gutted this thing out."
UCF was playing its first game under interim coach Alan Gooch and barely resembled the program he inherited from Mike Kruczek, who was fired last week.
Knights freshman quarterback Steve Moffett, playing only the second game of his college career, threw 13 passes for just 59 yards. That's a far cry from the 300-yard passing nights that were common during Kruczek's six years.
"Obviously we were conservative for a reason," said Gooch, whose team dropped to 3-8 overall and 2-5 in the MAC. "We had a true freshman at quarterback and you don't want him to make any mistakes. We had to play this game close to the vest so we could have a chance at the end."
Marshall quarterback Graham Gochneaur wouldn't give UCF that chance. Fittingly, Gochneaur beat the Golden Knights with his feet, not his arm. Marshall was clinging to a 14-7 lead with less than two minutes to play.
On a third down, Gochneaur ran 49 yards into the end zone to give the Thundering Herd a 21-7 lead with 1:44 remaining.