Way-Too-Early Season Preview: Ohio State Hosts Marshall in Week 3

The Ohio State Buckeyes will welcome the Marshall Thundering Herd to Columbus in late September.

Matt Galatzan | Jun 21, 2024

Dec 19, 2023; Frisco, TX, USA; Marshall Thundering Herd quarterback Cole Pennington (12) throws a pass during the fourth quarter against the UTSA Roadrunners at Toyota Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports / Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports

The Ohio State Buckeyes will wrap up their three-game non-conference slate next season with a home matchup against the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday, Sept. 21 in Columbus.

Hailing from the Sun Belt Conference, Marshall is coming off a 6-7 season last year. The team fell to the UTSA Roadrunners in the Frisco Bowl, 35-17.

The Thundering Herd are led by coach Charles Huff, who is heading into his fourth season at the helm. In three years, he’s posted a 22-17 record with three bowl game appearances. Huff spent two seasons as the associate head coach and running backs coach under the legendary Nick Saban in 2019 and 2020.

Like the Buckeyes did last season, Huff and the Thundering Herd pulled off a road win at Notre Dame in 2022. In a massive upset that marked the program’s second-ever win over a top-10 team, Marshall beat the No. 8 Fighting Irish, 26-21, to secure his biggest victory as a head coach. Though the Buckeyes are expected to come away with a relaxing victory, coach Ryan Day could certainly benefit from showing his team highlights of that upset in order to scare them straight a bit.

Including when the program made it to its first-ever bowl game in 1997 under legendary coach Bob Pruett, Marshall has played in 19 bowl games, posting an impressive 13-6 record in those contests.

This season will mark just the second-ever all-time meeting between Ohio State and Marshall. The two programs first met in Columbus in 2004 in what ended up being the final season of Pruett’s career at Marshall. The No. 9 Buckeyes squeaked by for a 24-21 win after kicker Mike Nugent hit a game-winning 55-yard field goal as time expired to avoid the upset. That Thundering Herd team featured future New York Giants running back and eventual two-time Super Bowl champion, Ahmad Bradshaw.

Last season, Marshall’s strength was its defense, as the unit finished with the fifth-fewest yards allowed in the Sun Belt (376.0) and the fourth-most sacks (33). However, the offense posted the second-lowest scoring average (22.8) in the conference.

Published Jun 21, 2024

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com, AllAggies.com, and the Managing Editor of BuckeyesNow.com and TheGroveReport.com He is also the Editor-In-Chief of RamDigest.com and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com