Marshall coach Charles Huff was in a good mood and optimistic during his session with the media Monday as the Thundering Herd prepared to face No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
He first likened the situation to one of his favorite movies, “Moneyball,” where a frugal major league team in the early 2000s turned to analytics and bargain-basement players in an attempt to compete with the big spenders.
“It’s the Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics, their payroll and where we are,” he joked.
Obviously, Marshall (1-1) would play the role of the underdog A’s, but Huff has been there before and succeeded. In 2022, his Thundering Herd defeated No. 8 Notre Dame on the road and the next season beat Virginia Tech.
“No doubt that Ohio State’s a good football team,” he said. “They’re well-coached. They’ve got really good players, but we’ve got good players as well.
“We’ve got a good plan coming up. It’s going to take our best and that’s what you want. It’s going to take our collective best, our individual best. We don’t have to be superstars. This is not David and Goliath. This is not, you know, high school vs. the pros. This is a really good team vs. a really good team, and when you have that, the margin for error is small.”
The good news for Marshall is that after a 31-14 loss at Virginia Tech on Sept. 7, it had an open week to get ready for the Buckeyes (2-0). The bad news is Ohio State was also idle last weekend after its 56-0 thrashing of Western Michigan on Sept. 7.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day took to calling the time between games an “improvement week.”
“The idea was to get better. I think we did do that last week,” Day said. “We had three hard, physical days out there, and got a chance to step away for a couple days and watch some games on Saturday and we asked everybody to do that, get some rest. It gives you a good perspective. You get the chance to see some games, see some situational things to learn from, get to see some other teams out there just watching the games.”
Day spent time studying Marshall and is impressed with its defense.
“They do a nice job. They’re sound in their scheme,” he said. “They have good players; their front is good and strong and powerful. They had a week off as well and they’re going to come in here and play physical.
“I have a lot of respect for their program and what (Huff) does.”
The Thundering Herd will look to weaponize running back A.J. Turner, who has only 14 carries in two games but has produced 222 yards (15.9 average), including an 80-yard touchdown against Stony Brook in the season opener.
Ohio State has big-play capabilities, too. The Buckeyes gained 683 yards of total offense, and the duo of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson has 294 yards on 40 carries (7.4) and five touchdowns against Western Michigan.
The Buckeyes’ defense posted its first shutout since 2019 and limited the Broncos to 99 total yards — just 5 in the second half. It was the first time Ohio State held an opponent to fewer than 100 total yards since allowing 66 in a 62-14 win over Maryland on Oct. 7, 2017.
