HUNTINGTON - It was a game that set college quarterbacking back about 50 years.

Playing probably the best secondary in Conference USA in Central Florida, Marshall's Mark Cann suffered his worst outing in his 10-game career Saturday night, going 4-of-17 for 32 yards. He threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cody Slate but fired two to the wrong shirts - or in his case, the same wrong shirt. Sha'reff Rashad picked off both passes and returned them a combined 77 yards.

Cann was yanked with 4:25 left, but Brian Anderson wasn't much better, going 3-of-12 for 52 yards, hitting a long of 31. It was the first time Marshall has failed to pass for 100 yards since it totaled 92 against Kansas State on Sept. 16, 2006.

Is this the school that brought you Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich?

UCF's Rob Calabrese wasn't much better, going 4-of-17 for 29 yards. He was betrayed by his receivers at times, though, and did not throw an interception.

The same probably couldn't be said for Cann, who has suffered three dismal halves in the past two games. He started the East Carolina game 2-of-7 for 11 yards with two interceptions.

Marshall coach Mark Snyder issued another vote of confidence for Cann, even after pulling him. But Cann knows he must pick up the pace.

And with Marshall needed to beat high-scoring Rice and Tulsa to even think about the postseason, he has to pick up the pace in a hurry.

"That's not acceptable," Cann said. "We've got to play better on offense, myself especially."

And then there was the insertion in the Herd's third series of Wesley Beardain, the fourth-string quarterback. Like several of the Thundering Herd's gadget plays/series on offense, it didn't work out as planned.

Beardain lost a yard on a keeper, then handed off to Chubb Small for a 4-yard gain. Cann returned for third down, getting back to the line of scrimmage on a third-and-7 sack attempt.

"I was just trying to get a spark," Snyder said. "There was really nothing to it, just trying to see if we could get a spark."

Saturday's kickoff temperature was 42 degrees, so the Herd lost its first C-USA game under 50 degrees. Marshall had been 5-0 in such games.

HUNTINGTON - It was a game that set college quarterbacking back about 50 years.

Playing probably the best secondary in Conference USA in Central Florida, Marshall's Mark Cann suffered his worst outing in his 10-game career Saturday night, going 4-of-17 for 32 yards. He threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cody Slate but fired two to the wrong shirts - or in his case, the same wrong shirt. Sha'reff Rashad picked off both passes and returned them a combined 77 yards.

Cann was yanked with 4:25 left, but Brian Anderson wasn't much better, going 3-of-12 for 52 yards, hitting a long of 31. It was the first time Marshall has failed to pass for 100 yards since it totaled 92 against Kansas State on Sept. 16, 2006.

Is this the school that brought you Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich?

UCF's Rob Calabrese wasn't much better, going 4-of-17 for 29 yards. He was betrayed by his receivers at times, though, and did not throw an interception.

The same probably couldn't be said for Cann, who has suffered three dismal halves in the past two games. He started the East Carolina game 2-of-7 for 11 yards with two interceptions.

Marshall coach Mark Snyder issued another vote of confidence for Cann, even after pulling him. But Cann knows he must pick up the pace.

And with Marshall needed to beat high-scoring Rice and Tulsa to even think about the postseason, he has to pick up the pace in a hurry.

"That's not acceptable," Cann said. "We've got to play better on offense, myself especially."

And then there was the insertion in the Herd's third series of Wesley Beardain, the fourth-string quarterback. Like several of the Thundering Herd's gadget plays/series on offense, it didn't work out as planned.

Beardain lost a yard on a keeper, then handed off to Chubb Small for a 4-yard gain. Cann returned for third down, getting back to the line of scrimmage on a third-and-7 sack attempt.

"I was just trying to get a spark," Snyder said. "There was really nothing to it, just trying to see if we could get a spark."

Saturday's kickoff temperature was 42 degrees, so the Herd lost its first C-USA game under 50 degrees. Marshall had been 5-0 in such games.

Conversely, it was the third-coldest game UCF has played since joining Division I-A in 1996. As one could guess, the Knights played two colder games at Mid-American Conference venues in 2002 and 2003 (Miami, Eastern Michigan).

In some ways, UCF had a game tailored to the nasty weather. The Knights ran 65 times, grinding out 213 rushing yards.

"I think we ran the ball because that's what we had to do today," O'Leary said. "We had a couple of passes dropped there for touchdowns, but I think the game plan was to control the ball as much as we could, and keep Marshall's offense off the field."

Briefly

Reach Doug Smock at 348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.