The biggest challenge for Ohio State in its game against Marshall is trying to figure out the possible offensive scheme of the Thundering Herd. Marshall has a new coach in Doc Holliday and a new offensive coordinator in Bill Legg. All the Buckeyes can go on is what Marshall might do, writes Columbus Dispatch reporter Tim May. "It's difficult,"...
Ohio State defensive end Cameron Heyward puts pressure on Penn State's quarterback Daryll Clark.The biggest challenge for Ohio State in its game against Marshall is trying to figure out the possible offensive scheme of the Thundering Herd.
Marshall has a new coach in Doc Holliday and a new offensive coordinator in Bill Legg. All the Buckeyes can go on is what Marshall might do, writes Columbus Dispatch reporter Tim May.
"It's difficult," cornerback Chimdi Chekwa said. "You go back to where the new staff coached before and you watch their offense. Then you go back to last year's film [of Marshall] and you watch their offense. Then you put all that together."
So the Buckeyes no doubt have watched video of Purdue's offense when Legg was there in the mid-2000s as co-offensive coordinator under "basketball on grass" coach Joe Tiller. They've checked out the diverse attack that included some wildcat plays that Legg orchestrated the past two years as offensive coordinator at Florida International.
May also writes how the Buckeyes probably dug up video from last year of South Dakota, where Marshall quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Tony Petersen worked as an assistant. Before that, he was co-coordinator at Minnesota when school record-setting quarterbacks Bryan Cupito and Asad Abdul-Khaliq were there, and then was an assistant at wide-open Iowa State in 2007.
"We just have to be ready for anything," defensive end Cameron Heyward said. "Marshall is coming in with the mentality that they're going to upset us. They're not going to sit back and just let us win. So it's going to be a fun game. I'm looking forward to it."
Defense can't rest
The Buckeyes had one of the best defenses in the nation last season, so with seven returning staters back on defense this coming season, Ohio State should not have any problems when it comes to its defense this year, right?
Middle linebacker Brian Rolle says to The Toledo Blade:
"Satisfied? We're never satisfied," Rolle said recently as Ohio State started to fine-tune things in advance of Thursday's season-opener against Marshall. We're doing a good job of getting it where we need to be. We'll see how good we can get."
Following in his footsteps
Zach Smith, the grandson of former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce, is a first-year assistant coach at Marhall, which opens the college football season at Ohio State on Thursday.
"Whether you're qualified to be a full-time coach or not, there's something that you learn only as a full-time coach, and that's being on the road recruiting," he said, "and that's something that when you're at Ohio State or Florida, you just don't want to learn on the run because it's such a vital part of being successful.
"I knew that's what Urban's viewpoint was, so that's why I left. It was time for me to go. I'd been there for five years and I loved my five years and I learned a ton. But it was time to get my own group of players and start recruiting guys and really get out there and solidify myself as a position coach as opposed to a graduate assistant. And coach Holliday was definitely the guy I wanted to go with and work for."
The band was Smith's earliest memory of Ohio State football. He said he vividly remembers it playing on his grandfather's front lawn, saluting Bruce, after he was fired as coach in 1987. Smith was 3.
Marshall assisant knows both roles
Marshall assistant football coach Bill Legg has been on both sidelines when it comes to season openers, writes Herald-Dispatch reporter Dave Walsh.
Legg's school is either the overwhelming favorite or a huge underdog. Marshall is at least a four touchdown underdog to Ohio State for Thursday's game.
As an assistant with Purdue, he opened at home against Bowling Green in 2003 and BG stunned the Boilermakers, 27-26. In 2005, Purdue walloped Akron, 59-24, in the opener.
For Legg, underdogs can't be taken for granted and favorites come in all business.
"I don't know if it's a ton different," the Herd's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach said after practice Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. "I will say this. There's no question It's easier to get excited about playing a team that nobody thinks you can beat. It's probably a little harder to get excited about playing a team you should beat. At the same time, good football teams, and Ohio State is a good football team, good coaching staffs, good programs, they show up and play every week."