ORLANDO, FL.

— It was lights out early on this Knight.

The Central Florida Knights scored on the first possession of the game and built a 27-3 halftime lead as they went on to spank the Marshall Thundering Herd 47-13 Saturday in a Conference USA game.

The Knights (6-3, 4-1) rolled up 269 yards rushing led by All-Conference USA running back Kevin Smith who had 188 yards on 29 carries. Quarterback Kyle Israel had 233 yards passing including two scoring tosses to Brian Watters.

Marshall’s defense was abused all day. A prime example came after a 51-yard punt by Anthony Binswanger that pinned UCF back at its 1-yard line.

Israel ran 13 yards on a quarterback sneak and then Smith broke off a school-record 87-yard touchdown run for a 20-0 lead with 5:28 left in the first half.

Herd defensive lineman Ryland Wilson got his first career interception that set up a 38-yard field goal by Binswanger to make it 33-6 and A 45-yard scoring run by Chubb Small cut the deficit to 33-12.

But Morris threw his second interception of the game to set up a short 33-yard drive by the Knights that ended on a 1-yard run by Phillip Smith.

Central Florida’s final score came on a 37-yard interception return by Darin Baldwin on a throw by backup quarterback Brian Anderson.

Marshall (1-8, 1-4) hosts East Carolina at 4:30 p.m. next Saturday.