Marshall Coach Charles Huff: Ohio State is “Really Good,” Elite on Both Sides of the Ball and Has “Real NFL Grown Men”

Ohio State dominated Marshall in the end, but the Thundering Herd made things interesting early on, even if it was short-lived.

Marshall head coach Charles Huff praised the Buckeyes leading up to the game and continued that praise after the game. Tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter, the Thundering Herd kept things close but just didn't have enough talent. They also made plenty of self-inflicted mistakes, leading to Ohio State's handily winning Saturday afternoon, 49-14.

While reiterating that Ohio State is one of the best teams "ever," doubling down on the statement he made this past week, he explained why that is after watching the Buckeyes on person, not just on film. So much so that he compared Ohio State's offense to that of LSU in 2019 and Alabama in 2020.

“Offensively, absolutely. And then defensively, they smother you. They kinda just lean on you and weigh you down a little bit. ... Defensively, they kinda just laid on us long enough to wear us down offensively. Offensively, I don't know, 2019 LSU, 2020 Alabama, they're probably in that realm.”

Ohio State's talent this season has been discussed throughout the season and even into the season. The amount of playmakers the Buckeyes retained while also adding elite players through the portal is one of the many reasons Ohio State is one of the best teams in the country this fall. Huff praised Ryan Day and how he has built the program (and kept the standard of greatness) since taking over in Columbus. So good that Huff believes Ohio State has plenty of depth across the roster as well.

“They're really good. Hats off to them. Coach Day has done a phenomenal job building this program. He was able to retain a lot of players that had opportunities to go other places. Guys came into the program. If they can stay healthy – I don't even think they need to stay healthy even with their fifth guy in – but it was good, they're good. A lot of respect for them.”

Just how big and good are Ohio State's players? Huff usually doesn't move on the sidelines when an opposing player and takes the hit himself. Against the Buckeyes, he didn't want to take the chance at injuring himself by doing so.

“We can't control if the receivers (runs a) 4.3 (40-yard dash) and he breaks two tackles that guys are right there. I mean, there were a couple of times that they were coming at me on the sideline that I was getting out of the way and I don't usually have to move because usually I'm just like 'oh, okay.' But they were like real NFL, grown men coming at a really, really high rate of speed, so I had to get out of the way. So I understand the talent gap.”