Patrick Engels: Ohio State Rolls In Final Tuneup Before B1G Play
Coming off a 56-0 shutout victory over Western Michigan, likely the last thing Ohio State wanted to do was be idle on the next college football Saturday. As a result, Ryan Day and the program deemed last week as an “improvement week,” where each player devoted the days to working on some areas they felt they needed to work on in order to fine tune their games.
The improvement week is now long past the Buckeyes, and they’ll now put what they learned to the test Saturday afternoon against a stingy Marshall team who is coming off an off week of its own.
I think Ohio State will look as sharp as it did against Western Michigan on Saturday, where it will come out fast and put in a complete effort on both sides. Starting with the offense, Marshall simply does not have the “dudes” to compete against what is a loaded Buckeyes unit on that side of the ball. The Thundering Herd gave up 208 rushing yards and two touchdowns to Virginia Tech, and another 130 yards and a score in the air.
With this in mind, it should be another efficient day for quarterback Will Howard, who will once again spread it around and drive his team up and down the field with relative ease. It’s not a bold prediction at this point, but I think Jeremiah Smith is in for another huge outing, but look for Emeka Egbuka to make his case as Ohio State’s best wide receiver with a strong performance.
I expect Ohio State’s running game to take another step in the right direction, too, because of the addition of two-time first-team All-Big Ten left tackle Donovan Jackson to the lineup. Jackson’s veteran presence will open up some extra lanes for TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, so they could be in store for a big day as well.
I’m not going to predict another shutout for Ohio State’s vaunted defense, but I do think they’ll get close. Like on the offensive side, the talent gap is simply too large for the Thundering Herd to put up a fight, and that’ll show in the trenches. Marshall allowed two sacks against the Hokies along with four tackles for loss. Look out for Jack Sawyer to keep dominating off the edge with at least a sack, and I also expect Denzel Burke to make an impact play, potentially an interception or fumble, in his first game back since being ejected for targeting.
No surprise here, but I like the Buckeyes to roll early and often in a final tune up before Big Ten play. Ohio State 52, Marshall 3
Bobby Gorbett: Ohio State Easily Handles Marshall
Ohio State is now quickly approaching its Big Ten debut and its first real opportunity to flex its muscles against a quality opponent. First, the Buckeyes will have to get through most likely its toughest opponent to date in Marshall.
Marshall’s 17-point road loss against a Virginia Tech team that had previously lost to Vanderbilt may not look great on paper, but it wasn’t as bad as the scoreline might suggest. The Thundering Herd trailed by just three points in the middle of the third quarter, and at the end of the game were only outgained by 60 yards. Although the team’s season-opening game was against Stony Brook, it was a strong 549-yard performance from the Marshall offense.
With a night game in East Lansing on the horizon, the Thundering Herd could potentially sneak up on the highly talented Buckeyes.
Still, this Ohio State team has shown it can be the powerhouse many predicted it would be before the season in its first two games, easily defeating Akron and Western Michigan, respectively.
Coming off of an open week, Ohio State will more than likely have plenty of energy in its week four matchup, but I would assume the rare opportunity to play in front of more than 100,000 fans, in addition to coming off an open week of its own, has a similar effect on Marshall.
I predict Will Howard and the passing attack to mainly pick up where they left off in the Western Michigan game, but I see them getting off to a bit of a slower start.
I think the Ohio State run game gets in a groove in the second half as well, but in the first half, Marshall will keep it closer than some might think. Ohio State 42, Marshall, 10
Greg Wilson: Buckeyes Trample The Herd
The first two weeks of the season were exactly what we expected to see against two MAC opponents. The biggest surprise of the season so far has been that the Buckeyes were only up two touchdowns after one half against Akron.
This is an Ohio State team, like all Ryan Day-led teams have been so far, that doesn’t have trouble with games like this one. They will win the games they are supposed to whether its with one of the best starting lineups in the country or some of the best depth any team has.
Marshall has a solid front four on the defensive end, so what I will be watching for is how the offensive line performs when the competition takes a slight step up from the first two weeks. The Herd won’t likely be sending a Big Ten caliber rush at them, but it will be good preparation for the conference schedule the Buckeyes get into after this week.
Howard will continue to lead a strong offense, and like they did against Western Michigan, the points will come early against Marshall.
The Herd are going to bring a better challenge than either of the Zips or Broncos did, but this Ohio State team is too good for that to matter much. Ohio State 45, Marshall 3
