In the embryonic career of Jalin Marshall, there will be highs and there will be lows. Who knew they’d all come on the same day.
In Ohio State’s admirable but flawed 31-24 win against Minnesota Saturday, the redshirt freshman, who’s starting to find a niche on the eighth-ranked Buckeyes, had his best and worst game on a frigid and snowy afternoon.
The good: He touched the ball six times for 107 yards and a touchdown on an afternoon that showed why head coach Urban Meyer has expanded the youngster’s role in a booming offense. A dazzling 57-yard catch and run in the first quarter was the kind of play the team’s yearned for from its H-back position.
The bad: Marshall lost two critical fumbles and helped make a contest that teetered on becoming a rout closer than it probably ever should have been.
It was a game the Buckeyes seized control of early; they connected on big plays, dropped almost 500 yards despite an exceptionally-cold November day in Minneapolis and held the Gophers to 303 yards.
Yet turnovers — namely Marshall’s blunders while fielding punts — kept a hearty Minnesota team in the fray.
Those who live on the fringe of an already rabid fan base reacted by launching volleys of hate tweets aimed at him. Unlike them, Meyer, expectedly, offered a sympathetic but logical and firm perspective.
“He’s a young player. He’s a freshman,” he said. “(But) we can’t do that.”
Because while those errors didn’t cost Ohio State against the Gophers, they threaten to undercut a team that’s making its final push for a spot in the playoffs.
“We're going to hug him up,” senior cornerback Doran Grant said.
“He's a young guy, but he's still our teammate. We love him. Obviously he can do a lot of things for us. We got him. He's going to be good, he's going to be fine.”
Which is why if you think Meyer and the Buckeyes are going to suddenly veer away from Marshall — who’s surging in a rolling offense — you’re nuts.
“We’re different than a lot of people, I don’t just yank guys out of the game,” Meyer said. “If someone is not going hard, then that’s a different story.”
It’s not the case with him. In his last three games against the Gophers, Michigan State, and Illinois, he’s got 219 yards and two touchdowns.
And in the absence of sophomore speedster Dontre Wilson — a critical cog of the team’s offense who could be out until the bowl game with a surgically-repaired foot — his role has expanded. Turning the ball over can shrink it, but Marshall could be the final piece to an offense that seemingly has just about everything figured out in the homestretch.
“We’re going to go right back to him,” Meyer said. “That’s what good teams do; they pick each other up.”
