ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. - Marshall's first football journey to the Tampa Bay area was very un-Marshall-like, from a historical perspective.
The 2011 St. Petersburg Bowl was a defensive struggle or an offensive pillow fight, or both.
Whatever it was, the Thundering Herd's 20-10 win over Florida International is the lowest-scoring of seven games on Tropicana Field's first-base line. It is the lowest-scoring bowl in MU's modern era.
Marshall held the Panthers to bowl record lows in first downs (12), plays (59) and passing yards (163). The teams set an unwelcome high of 15 punts, and it was appropriate that MU's block with 7:35 left was the game-turning play.
That game in no way resembled other Herd's other bowl victories, which include scores of 48-29, 64-61, 38-15 and 52-23.
Why do I dredge that ugly game from the archives? Because the Herd is back in St. Pete and another puntfest could break out.
When Marshall meets Connecticut at 11 a.m., the defenses have the advantage over the opposing offense on both sides.
So which unit shall we examine first? Let's go with the Herd defense, which has Conference USA's best unit, even after giving up 49 to league champ Western Kentucky in its previous game.
The linebacker unit of Evan McKelvey, Devontre'a Tyler/Shawn Petty and D.J. Hunter combined for 20.5 tackles for loss and buzzed from sideline to sideline. McKelvey is the league's defensive player of the year for a reason.
Taj Letman and Tiquan Lang have been iron men at safety. Corey Tindal has settled in at cornerback, and Rodney Allen's emergence was welcome.
Up front, Jarquez Samuel played up to expectation at nose guard. Gary Thompson is finally approaching his potential at end, with eight sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. At the other end, 6-foot-7 Ryan Bee is the pleasant surprise of the year.
The Herd has 14 interceptions, 13 fumble recoveries and C-USA's best pass efficiency defense rating. Lang's two "pick-six" touchdowns against Purdue was the best individual effort and the 31-10 shutdown of Southern Mississippi was the best overall game.
From all indications, UConn's offense has had a rough year.
The Huskies barely topped 300 total yards against Villanova and managed just 233 against Missouri, 230 vs. Brigham Young, 227 vs. Tulane and an anemic 138 vs. Temple. They racked up a season-high 528 yards with just one turnover against South Florida, yet managed only 20 points.
I know the Huskies have a better offense than Charlotte and a few other MU opponents, but being ranked 119th in the nation in total offense, 118th in scoring offense and 118th in tackles for loss allowed is no way to live.
So why is UConn 6-6, just good enough to be here? It's all all about the defense, and the Huskies have the best on the Herd's schedule. (Go ahead and tell me Purdue's "D" is sturdier. I dare you.)
The Huskies have placed the only blemish on American Athletic Conference champion Houston, becoming bowl-eligible with the 20-17 win on Nov. 21. The Cougars missed star quarterback Greg Ward Jr., but that doesn't explain the Huskies' physical advantage over the Houston line.
The team's bowl media guide has pictures of the five All-AAC players, and they're all on defense - cornerback Jamar Summers on first team, defensive lineman Julian Campbell and safety Andrew Adams on second team, and defensive lineman Folorunso Fatukasi and linebacker Junior Joseph on honorable mention.
And these guys don't lack size. The line runs 291, 304, 306 and 255 pounds and the linebackers go 237, 242 and 232. Even free safety Obi Melifonwu is 6-foot-3, 216.
The Huskies have 17 interceptions, led by Jamar Summers' seven. His 67-yard interception return provided the Huskies' only score in a 7-3 win in the rain at Tulane.
"This defense is extremely fundamentally sound," said Bill Legg, MU's offensive coordinator. "They understand the strengths and weaknesses of their calls and the do a phenomenal job of covering the weaknesses."
This defense will tax MU's "next man up" offensive line and provide the toughest mental test for freshman QB Chase Litton. And it's going to give MU punter Tyler Williams some exercise in his final game.
Similarly, MU's smaller but speedy defense is going to bring UConn punter Justin Wain out a few times.
Will this be another 15-punt St. Pete Bowl? Another 20-10 grind?
It could happen.