Marshall vs. Ohio State College Football Predictions: The Buckeyes of – The Ohio State University – have won 32 straight home openers. Thursday night (Sept. 2) after playing the Thundering Herd of Marshall University, the Buckeyes will have won 33 straight home openers. That you can bet your mortgage on and anything else you feel like wagering. This game kicks off at 7:30 pm Eastern and will be televised on the BIG TEN Network.
Marshall, a member of Conference USA (non-BCS), is unranked by all of the major college football polls and is not expected to make much noise in its own conference, let alone make any waves on the national BCS scene. The Thundering Herd will do three things Thursday night – show up in Columbus, collect a large paycheck, and take a sound beating. Anything other than that is not in the contract.
Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com see a big Buckeyes win, having them installed as 28 1/2-chalk favorites. Sportsbook has opened betting on a posted total of 47 points. Moneyline odds are OFF the board for the game.
Even though Marshall is a huge underdog, that doesn't mean they don't have a few weapons. Senior quarterback Brian Anderson is a very capable field general who started all 13 games in 2009. In leading the Thundering Herd to a 7-6 overall record, including a bowl victory, Anderson threw for 2,646 yards and 14 touchdowns against 13 interceptions. Marshall has a capable running game where they will alternate two runners, Martin Ward and Andre Booker, the pair referred to as "Thunder and Lightening". In 2009 Ward rushed for 393 yards on just 82 carries as a backup to Darius Marshall to jumped to the NFL following last season.
The Buckeyes are coming off a year in 2009-10 where they finished with an 11-2 overall record, a No.5 national ranking in both AP and Coaches Polls, and a outright BIG TEN Conference championship after going 7-1 in league play. The Buckeyes finished the season with a Rose Bowl Game victory over Oregon. The bad news for Marshall in Thursday's opener is the Buckeyes have just about everybody back from that 2009 team including quarterback and 2010 Heisman Trophy candidate Terrelle Pryor. The Buckeye's defense returns all its linebackers from 2009 in Seniors Ross Homan, Brian Rolle and Jermale Hines, and Junior Etienne Sabino.
We admit, Marshall’s prospects don’t look very good for winning the game but with gambling in mind, will the Buckeyes win by 28 ½ points? While Ohio State is more than capable of defeating Marshall by four or more touchdowns that doesn’t mean they will. There are many factors that enter into how the outcome falls. It is not in OSU’s best interest to run up the score with its first team in the game past the third quarter. If Marshall can get on the scoreboard twice, they could come close to covering +28 ½.
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