Ohio State-Marshall 2010 Season Opener: Preview, History Lesson, And Prediction

Game Preview

The 2010 Ohio State football season is set to kickoff next Thursday night (9/2/10) at 7:30PM on the Big Ten Network as the Buckeyes host the Thundering Herd from Marshall University.

The Herd are coming off of a disappointing 7-6 season and are now under the direction of new head coach, Doc Holliday.

It could be understating the situation to say that Marshall is not currently a very good football program. Basically, the program has been down ever since Byron Leftwich departed in 2003.

They have several big holes to fill where they had talented players last year, or where they were projected to have them in 2010.

Their top rusher in 2009, Darius Marshall, declared for the NFL after the season and just a little over a week ago, it was announced that QB Willie Korn, a once-highly-regarded transfer from Clemson is now leaving Marshall for DII North Greenville after being told he would be moved from quarterback to safety.

Contrarily, Jim Tressel's Buckeyes are coming off an 11-2 season which culminated with their 26-17 Rose Bowl win over then-No. 7 Oregon, a game which has been billed as Terrelle Pryor's coming out party.

The Buckeyes did lose a handful of very good players from last year's team, but they return 16 starters and many of the projected new starters were used as part of a two-deep rotation so they are not raw and inexperienced.

As (unintentionally) disrespectful as this is going to sound, the fact is that even Ohio State's third or fourth string players could almost certainly defeat the first team squad from this Marshall team.

Since this is the season opener, I will mention a few of the key players from each team and list their respective stats from 2009. This section will be slightly different in future "preview article" editions over the coming weeks as the season progresses.


Marshall—By the Numbers

QB—Brian Anderson (6'3, 213) - Senior

In 13 starts, Anderson had 2,646 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and a QB rating of 118.96. He was also sacked 24 times.


RB—Martin Ward (5'9, 201) - Sophomore

As a backup in 2009, Ward rushed for 393 yards and three scores, all while averaging 4.8 yards per carry.


WR—Antavious Wilson (6'0, 196) - Sophomore

Wilson led the Herd in receiving last year with 60 receptions for 724 yards and three touchdowns. He played in all 13 games a year ago, and in two of those games he had over 150 yards receiving.


WR—Aaron Dobson (6'3, 203) - Sophomore

Appearing in only six games last season, Dobson caught 15 balls for 358 yards and four touchdowns.


LB—Mario Harvey (6'0, 250) - Senior

Harvey led the Marshall defense in 2009 with 117 tackles and 7.5 sacks and he also had 1.5 tackles for loss.


LB—Kellen Harris (6'3, 232) - Junior

Harris recorded 71 tackles including 5.5 tackles for loss as well as one-half of a sack.


FS—Omar Brown (5'11, 194) - Junior

Brown's 73 tackles are second only to Harvey's 117 among returnees. He also has 10 passed defended ans two interceptions.


Ohio State—By the Numbers

QB—Terrelle Pryor (6'6, 235) - Junior

Pryor led the Buckeyes both through the air and on the ground, passing for 2,094 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushing for 779 yards and 7 touchdowns. He also threw 11 interceptions, a feat that he preferably not repeat or exceed in 2010.


RB—Brandon Saine (6'1, 220) - Senior

Saine is a dual-threat back who rushed for 739 yards and four touchdowns with a 5.1 yards per carry average. He also caught 17 passes for 224 yards and two scores—not bad considering he was part of a running-back-by-committee approach used last season in Columbus.


RB—Dan Herron (5'10, 202) - Junior

In eight full games, Herron rushed for 600 yards and scored seven touchdowns last season, but potentially see his role (and stats) diminished in 2010. With the emergence of a healthy Brandon Saine, as well as talented youngsters Jordan Hall, Jaamal Berry, and Carlos Hyde all looking to earn their share of playing time, Boom could be relegated to just a 3rd down and/or goal line back.


WR—DeVier Posey (6'2, 213) - Junior

Posey led Ohio State in receiving with 60 catches for 828 yards and eight touchdowns. He had over 100 yards receiving twice last year, and he caught the fourth quarter touchdown that sealed the victory over Oregon in the Rose Bowl.


WR—Dane Sanzenbacher (5'11, 180) - Senior

Sanzenbacher wasn't that far behind Posey with six touchdown grabs and 570 receiving yards last season. His value and stats could increase this year as OSU is talented, but young and inexperienced, and in at least one case inconsistent, at the wide receiver position after he and Posey.


TE—Jake Stoneburner (6'6, 245) - Sophomore

Stoneburner had just two catches for 30 yards in 2009, but all indications from the Spring game are that he will be used as an extra receiver quite often in addition to his blocking duties.


DT—Cameron Heyward (6'5, 290) - Senior

Heyward came back for his senior year to "be the best" and to hopefully win the Big Ten and a national title. He posted 46 tackles with 3.5 for loss and 6.5 sacks. Although the stats don't tell the full story or include how often he was double-teamed, he will need to nearly double those numbers this year to truly be considered the best ever lineman at Ohio State. I'm not sure that he can, but he might. He's that good.


LB—Ross Homan (6'0, 230) - Senior

Homan quietly led the Buckeyes in tackles with 108 in addition to his two sacks and five interceptions. I see no reason why he won't post similar stats in 2010.


LB—Brian Rolle (5'11, 220) - Senior

Rolle emerged as a star immediately last year when he became the hero against Navy in the too-close-for-comfort 2009 opener. He recorded one sack and was second on the team in tackles just behind Homan with 95, seven of them for loss. Another big year out of Rolle should be on tap.


Ohio State—Marshall: History Lesson and Other Tidbits

• This will be only the second ever meeting between Ohio State and Marshall.

• Ohio State defeated Marshall 24-21 on a last play, 55 yard FG in 2004.

• Ohio State has won 31 straight home openers by an average of 20 ppg.

• Since 2001 under Jim Tressel, Ohio State is 35-8 vs. non-conference opponents.

• Overall since 2001, Ohio State is 56-7 at home.

• Marshall is 0-5 all-time vs. Big Ten opponents.

• Marshall has lost 10 straight road openers by an average of 23 ppg.

• Marshall is 1-13 all-time and has lost 9 straight vs. ranked FBS opponents.


Summary and Prediction

We know No. 2 Ohio State is highly regarded and should have a very potent offense to compliment one of the stingiest and best defensive units in the nation.

We also know that no matter how you slice it, Marshall is clearly considered a cupcake in anyone's opinion unless if you are asking a coach, player, or fan of the Herd.

Like I said before, I am not trying to be overly disrespectful to the Marshall program, but it has seen its' better days.

The 2004 game was a fluke, so with all that being said, it is time for my not-so-surprising final score prediction.

Let it be known that I wouldn't be shocked by a shutout, and even though Ohio State could easily break 50+ points, Tressel is a classy coach that tends not to run it up just for "style points" like the Urban Meyer's of the world.


Ohio State 45
Marshall 3


Sidenote

I am having surgery next week so I might not be able to sit at the computer for an extended period of time, meaning I may or may not publish any articles for the next couple of weeks. It will depend on how I am recovering (hopefully fast) and the level of pain and discomfort (hopefully very little or none) I am experiencing post-op.


Click For The Block Nation Front Page

Ohio State Football 2010 Season Forecast: Sunny And Successful, Part II

I have been a little busy lately with work, and the birth of my second daughter on April 27^th, so I haven't had any real free time to do much with the blog, or to just touch base with my "millions" of fans...

Until today!

Please, hold your applause until the end...

So anyway, I began a three-part series back in mid-April entitled Ohio State Football 2010 Season Forecast: Sunny And Successful, and am glad to FINALLY bring you Part II.

Part I didn't even have anything to do with Michigan, since as you know, "The Game" is the last game of the year for both teams, and yet I still managed to take a few shots at scUM in Part I.

Here's to doing my best to repeat that performance in this installment! And by the way, here's a link just in case you missed Part I of this series.

Just a reminder—Nobody can guarantee for sure how the 2010 season will play out, and it is only mid-May—several months before the games will actually be played—but if you want a general idea of how it might all go down before then, you can read this article and settle for some of my best educated guesswork in the meantime.

So without further delay, onward to Part II...

---

Game Five @ Illinois—October 2, 2010



The Buckeyes will open their 2010 Big Ten schedule on the road vs. Illinois in what could potentially be a very lopsided matchup.

I for one would have bet a large sum of money that Illinois Coach Ron Zook would have been fired after the 2009 season. Amazingly however, Zook is still in charge (for now), and that doesn't bode well for Illini fans as the Zooker is just 21-39 in his five seasons at the helm.

In my opinion, anything short of seven-plus wins and a bowl game invite would mean 2010 will likely be his last in Champaign.

Once-heralded QB Juice Williams and WR Arrelious Benn are gone, and it looks as though redshirt freshmen Nathan Sheelhaase and Florida transfer Jarred Fayson will be asked to replace them each respectively.

Zook, who "coached" the Illini to a 30-0 shutout loss in Columbus last season, is 1-4 against Ohio State in his career—his lone win coming in Ohio Stadium during the 2007 season, in which he led Illinois to a 9-3 record and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

That 2007 season is a distant memory now though. Whether at home, or on the road, I believe it is safe to say that there won't be much fight coming out of the depleted "Fighting Illini" in 2010, especially against the top teams in the conference, i.e. Ohio State, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc.

Sorry Zooker, but your hot seat is about to explode...

Win (5-0)

---

Game Six vs. Indiana—October 9, 2010



The Buckeyes will open their 2010 Big Ten home schedule by hosting the Hoosiers of Indiana.

Ohio State leads the all-time series (66-12-5) and since 1991, the Buckeyes are a perfect 17-0 vs. IU.

Coach Tressel is 7-0, and his teams have outscored Indiana 255-71 in those meetings, but this ain't exactly your Daddy's' Indiana Hoosiers heading into 2010—well, at least not on offense.

Coach Bill Lynch and his Hoosiers can actually run the spread offense effectively, unlike Dickrod and company thus far in that state to our North that smells of boiled hot dog water (hey, maybe they should consider hiring Lynch after they fire RR?).

Offensively, they should be fine moving the ball, and they shouldn't have have much trouble scoring against most of the teams on their schedule. Senior QB Ben Chappell, who will be one of the best passers in the conference, has plenty of talented options surrounding him, including wide receivers Tandon Doss, Demarlo Belcher and Terrence Turner, as well as RB Darius Willis.

I suspect we will see a lot of what you see in this video around the 1:25 mark from Chappell and his receivers.

The problem for the Hoosiers will be their defense. Will they be able to hold on in a shootout and win some of their sure-to-be high-scoring, down-to-the-wire games in the final minutes? It's hard to say.

The Ohio State defense should be just as good as they were in 2009, while IU should be better on offense than they were last season. For that reason, I will be kind of shocked if IU doesn't score a couple-three times, but in the end, they won't be able to "out-shoot" the Buckeyes. I'm thinking 38-17 ballpark for the final score.

See you in Maize and Blue in 2011 Coach Lynch!

Win (6-0)

---

Game Seven @ Wisconsin—October 16, 2010



A year ago, Ohio State was almost completely anemic on offense, yet still defeated Wisconsin 31-13 with defense and special teams.

In what looks to be one of the Big Ten's best matchups of the upcoming season, the Buckeyes will need much more from their offense if they expect to win in Camp Randall.

The defense will also have their hands full though as Wisconsin returns 10 starters on offense including Scott Tolzien, one of the better quarterbacks in the conference, and star running back and reigning Big Ten player of the year, John Clay. Of course, the Buckeyes held Clay to only 59 yards on 20 carries last season, so he may or may not be a huge factor in the meeting this coming fall.

Along with new TE Lance Kendricks, who is replacing the departed Garrett Graham, wide receivers Nick Toon and David Gilreath are underappreciated targets that could give smaller, less experienced defenses fits down the field. Unfortunately for the Badgers, Ohio State is not small or inexperienced on defense.

The Badgers will have to prove that they can live up to high expectations really for the first time since A.D. and former head coach Barry Alverez stepped down. That is often easier said than done.

Also, Wisconsin has some concerns on defense that could make that task more difficult, specifically on the defensive front, as only one of four starters returns. The Buckeyes should be able to exploit the inexperienced line with their stable of talented running backs, not to mention their extremely fast and mobile quarterback, Terrelle Pryor.

Pryor, who was integral in helping the Buckeyes win in Madison in 2008, running in the game-winning touchdown in the final 70 seconds to break the hearts of Badger fans everywhere, will be seeking his third win over Wisconsin in as many tries.

The Buckeyes lead the all-time series (53-17-5). Overall, Coach Tressel is 4-3 against UW in his career and 3-0 against current Badger coach Brent Bielema.

Wisconsin is a dangerous team and I expect another closely contested game like the meeting in 2008. I do not take them lightly, nor do I project that winning this game will be easy.

Both teams have the talent on offense to win, but for me the coaching edge, and the defensive advantage favors the Buckeyes and as was the case in both 2008 and 2009, each of those factors (along with how well Pryor plays) will once again ultimately be what decides the outcome in 2010.

Win (7-0)

---

Game Eight vs. Purdue—October 23, 2010



Terrelle Pryor played one of the worst games of his career, as he and the entire Buckeye Nation completely overlooked Purdue in 2009.

The shocking 26-18 loss was 100% absolutely a fluke, but upsets happen when the clearly superior team loafs off and shows no sense of urgency.

I really don't mean to be sound overly insulting to Purdue here, but if we could load up everyone from each teams' 2009 roster into the hot tub time machine, go back to that day, and replay that game 1000 times, Purdue might win once or twice.

This year, the Boilermakers return WR Keith Smith and RB Ralph Bolden, both standouts, but must replace QB Joey Elliott, who statistically was one of the better signal callers in the Big Ten for 2009. That responsibility will fall on Caleb TerBush and Coach Danny Hope can only "hope" TerBush is ready for the job.

Purdue should be OK and maybe even decent on offense, but their defense will be the pitfall yet again in year two for Coach Hope. In 12 games last season, opponents gained over 170 yards per game on the ground and scored 26 touchdowns.

I look for the Buckeyes to not overlook Purdue in 2010, and to thus have a field day running the ball. Furthermore, I will not be shocked one bit if multiple players score touchdowns, and if more than one rushes for near or over 100 yards.

Ohio State is (37-13-2) all-time against Purdue and Coach Tressel is 5-2 (3-0 at home) vs. the Boilermakers, not to mention, Purdue hasn't won in Ohio Stadium since 1988.

I see that trend continuing.

Win (8-0)

Be sure to stop back—The third and final installment is coming soon!


Click For Block Nation Front Page

Article Reads

This Block-O-Nation Ohio State Football article

is also Featured on

Photo © Dan Harker / Ozone.net

Ohio State Football 2010 Season Forecast: Sunny And Successful, Part I

Since I've explored and correctly projected a high likelihood of failure at Michigan over the last couple of seasons, I suppose it's finally time for me to write and post this three-part companion series.

Although, Michigan fans really aren't going to like this one either, especially my projected outcome for The Game this-coming November 27^th.

More on that later, but let's just say (cough, hint, spoiler alert) I see a certain recent trend, established in 2001, continuing this year—and in the foreseeable future—but for now, I digress...

Certainly we Buckeye fans have very high expectations for our team this year (just like every other year), and rightfully so—but, will our expectations ultimately meet reality?

There's only one way to know for sure, but since it's only April and the games won't actually be played for several months, you'll have to settle for some of my best educated guesswork instead...

---

Game One vs. Marshall—September 2, 2010



At the risk of sounding unintentionally disrespectful to Marshall, now that running back Darius Marshall has left for the NFL, I can't name one player of note that remains on their roster other than LB Kellen Harris, and he can't beat the Buckeyes alone.

This game will be played on Thursday night where highly ranked teams seem to lose quite often, but again to sound probably somewhat unintentionally disrespectful, Marshall has ZERO chance of coming into the Horseshoe and even keeping it close, let alone winning this game.

Win (1-0)


Game Two vs. Miami-FL—September 11, 2010



Following their usual tradition, the Buckeyes scheduled another home-and-home series with one of college football's all-time elite programs, this time with the Miami Hurricanes.

Coach Randy Shannon led the 'Canes to an unexpected 9-4 season in 2009, and with the athletes he has the cupboards stocked with, led by junior QB Jacory Harris, expectations, much like those in Columbus, are very high in South Florida.

This game is one of several that will be billed as the game of the week, with both teams projected to be ranked in the top 10. Harris and Terrelle Pryor are very similar in their abilities and I expect a great game between these two Goliath's.

Miami, which lost 20-14 to Wisconsin (yes, the same Wisconsin that Ohio State defeated 31-13) in the Champs Sports Bowl, will be improved squad over last year's team, but so will the Buckeyes.

In the end, experience and an ever-so-slight advantage in talent (even if not speed), along with the home field advantage will be enough for the Buckeyes to win what I expect to be a closely contested game.

Win (2-0)


Game Three vs. Ohio—September 18, 2010



The last time the Bobcats came to Columbus back in 2008, they put a scare into the Buckeyes for sure. I'm not trying to take anything away from Ohio U. in that game because they played very well and they nearly pulled off a huge upset, but the Buckeyes were absolutely looking ahead to their week three showdown in Los Angeles vs. USC. Plus, almost only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes, but not in The Horseshoe.

Without cheating, I can't name one single player from the 2010 Bobcats, although I do know their coach is still Frank Solich if that counts for anything. Eastern Michigan comes to Columbus the following week and unfortunately for Ohio, Ohio State won't be looking ahead to a team that lost badly a year ago to lowly Michigan. (See, I told you UM fans would hate this article, and I'm just warming up!)

Win (3-0)


Game Four vs. Eastern Michigan—September 25, 2010



Other than Miami, I admit this OOC schedule is very light, but if it's good enough for teams from the SEC to play four cupcakes (often including a team from the FCS) out of conference EVERY year and still be given the opportunity to play in the BCS title game, then surely it's good enough for the Buckeyes to play three (all FBS mind you) Hostess-like opponents as well then, no?

Again as was the case above with Marshall (other than Kellen Harris) and Ohio, no disrespect intended, but I can't name one single player on the 2010 Eastern Michigan roster without cheating. Wait, does Charlie Batch count?

There's not much else to say about this game really. Think Ohio State vs. New Mexico State from last season. Tressel doesn't run up the score for those ever-coveted "style points" that pollsters love, but in-spite of "Tressel-ball" it just can't be prevented that the Buckeyes will defeat EMU by a significant margin.

Win (4-0)

---

Do you agree, disagree, love the site and/or my work, or are you a UM fan that just wants to tell me how much you loathe me?

All you have to do is POST A COMMENT.

If you're a girly man, you can even hide behind your keyboard and post anonymously if you wish -- No registration is required!

Also, make sure to bookmark or favorite the site and check back.

Parts II is now Live and can be read here, and Part III is coming soon!



Click For Block Nation Front Page

Photo © Jim Davidson / Ozone.net