Staff Picks: Buckeyes Host the Thundering Herd

The Buckeyes are back in action on Saturday after the first of two bye weeks on the season. Will ‘Improvement Week’ pay dividends or was the bye ill-timed for the Buckeyes?

Our staff makes their picks for Saturday’s matchup in The Shoe.

Ross Fulton

Marshall is a relative upgrade compared to Ohio State’s prior two opponents (91 in SP+ compared to teams in the 100s) and the Buckeyes have to restart momentum after the early bye. Because of that, Ohio State may start a bit slower before they get rolling. The Buckeye defense is in a good spot to not give up a touchdown in non conference play.

Ohio State 50 Marshall 5

Tony Gerdeman

Ohio State didn’t want to take last week off and I expect them to show it this week. Ryan Day spoke highly of Tuesday’s practice, which is always the most physical of the week. If the Buckeyes are getting after it on a Tuesday after a week off, they should also get after it on Saturday. The Ohio State running game will dominate in this one.

I think TreVeyon Henderson busts a long one finally. The play-action is going to be effective. Can Will Howard be more accurate downfield this week? Defensively, the Buckeyes should shut things down again this week. Marshall quarterback Stone Earle can run the ball, which will provide an additional development for the Buckeyes to worry about. Everybody is loving Arvell Reese right now. How will he fare against a mobile quarterback? We may find out. I’m expecting another 600 yards of total offense and a stifling defensive performance.

Ohio State 52 Marshall 3

Marc Givler

A really uneventful non-conference schedule mercifully comes to an end on Saturday afternoon as we’re just a week away from Big Ten play starting for the Buckeyes.

Marshall is a better team than the two Ohio State has faced so far, but this is still an extremely lopsided matchup. The bye week wasn’t the greatest timing in the world as Ohio State seemed to legitimately grow from Game 1 to Game 2 but Ryan Day and Co. did everything they could to keep that first bye week as close to a game week as possible.

Ohio State rolls again behind a balanced offensive attack and a suffocating defense.

Ohio State 52 Marshall 6

Kevin Noon

Ohio State closes out its non-conference schedule and at risk of sounding like a broken record, this is another name your score game.

This is not a case of disrespecting Marshall, its coaches or its players, there is just such a huge gap between Ohio State and Marshall right now in terms of abilities.

With conference play starting next week for the Buckeyes, this is the last chance to get things on tape for opponents to worry about while keeping things buttoned up.

I would expect to see the starters in until midway through the third quarter and for the Buckeyes to go about business as usual.

Look for Will Howard to have another big game as the Buckeyes continue to get him much-needed work within the Ohio State offensive framework.

There really isn’t much that Marshall can do other than extending its own offensive drives to keep the Buckeyes off the field.

I don’t think they will have much success with that.

Ohio State 49 Marshall 7

Tom Orr

Game three of the three-game “JV Mode” non-conference schedule happens this Saturday at noon. The Big Noon Kickoff Pregame show will be there for the occasion and the game will be televised nationally on FOX, a damning indictment of the rest of this week’s Big Ten schedule. 

This game should be more of the same for the Buckeyes. Expect an efficient and explosive performance from the offense and another dominating day from the defense. The starters should be out of the game by the middle of the third quarter, giving backups and young players some extended run. 

Marshall’s passing offense averaged 3.6 yards per attempt in their last outing against Virginia Tech, and outside of a 69-yard run, they averaged 3.1 yards every time they ran it. Also, their field goal kicker is 1-for-3 on the season. TL;DR Don’t expect the Thundering Herd to put up a lot of points. 

And just because I’m feeling old, you need to as well: backup QB Cole Pennington is the son of former Marshall legend Chad Pennington. 

Ohio State 48 Marshall 3