Welcome to the Skull Session.
It's time for Marshall to get dumped.
(I apologize if your name is Marshall – I hope you do not get dumped).
Have a good Saturday.
(Especially all the Marshalls out there).
NO THUNDER HERE. On Sept. 11, 2004, Marshall came to Columbus and went punch-for-punch with Ohio State. The Buckeyes needed a game-winning 55-yard field goal from Mike Nugent to win 24-21.
Twenty years later, don't expect a similar result.
This season, the Herd have a win over Stony Brook and a loss to Virginia Tech. Marshall has athletes on offense and defense, including running back A.J. Turner, wide receiver Christian Fitzpatrick, defensive end Mike Green and linebacker Landyn Watson. But when it comes to execution – you know, the aspect of the game that allows an offense to move the ball down the field and a defense to keep the ball from moving the ball down the field – the team leaves much to be desired. For example, Marshall runs an Air Raid system and rank No. 110 nationally in passing offense. The Herd also run a 4-2-5 defense and rank No. 83 nationally in passing defense.
When that is true about an Ohio State opponent, it usually doesn't end well for them.
It won't end well for Marshall on Saturday.
Consider this the Buckeyes' third straight tuneup before their Big Ten schedule starts next week at Michigan State.
Ohio State 45, Marshall 10
THE MENU. There's a reason FOX selected Ohio State and Marshall as its Big Noon Kickoff destination in Week 4. That's because, well, there's not a ton of great college football games this weekend. Outside of the battle between the Buckeyes and Herd, there's No. 11 USC at No. 18 Michigan (3:30 p.m. on CBS), No. 12 Utah at No. 14 Oklahoma State (4 p.m. on FOX) and No. 6 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma (7:30 p.m. on ABC).
That's about it.
But still, it's college football. And we must soak in the season while it's here.
Have a look at the TV schedule for Week 4 around the sport:
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV/Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Rice at Army | 12:00pm | CBSSN |
| Florida at Mississippi State | 12:00pm | ESPN |
| Charlotte at Indiana | 12:00pm | BTN |
| Tulane at Louisiana | 12:00pm | ESPNU |
| James Madison at North Carolina | 12:00pm | ACCN |
| Marshall at 3 Ohio State | 12:00pm | FOX |
| Villanova at Maryland | 12:00pm | BTN |
| NC State at 21 Clemson | 12:00pm | ABC/ESPN+ |
| Houston at Cincinnati | 12:00pm | FS1 |
| Kansas at West Virginia | 12:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Ohio at Kentucky | 12:45pm | SECN |
| Ball State at Central Michigan | 1:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Virginia at Coastal Carolina | 2:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Utah State at Temple | 2:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Arkansas State at 20 Iowa State | 2:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Saint Francis U. at Eastern Michigan | 2:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Eastern Washington at Nevada | 3:00pm | NSN/MWN |
| Southern Miss at Jacksonville State | 3:00pm | ESPN+ |
| UCLA at 16 LSU | 3:30pm | ABC/ESPN+ |
| Youngstown State at Pitt | 3:30pm | ACCNX |
| 11 USC at 18 Michigan | 3:30pm | CBS/Paramount+ |
| Memphis at Navy | 3:30pm | CBSSN |
| HCU at UTSA | 3:30pm | ESPN+ |
| CCSU at UMass | 3:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Miami (Ohio) at 17 Notre Dame | 3:30pm | NBC/Peacock |
| Arkansas at Auburn | 3:30pm | ESPN |
| Kent State at 10 Penn State | 3:30pm | BTN |
| Rutgers at Virginia Tech | 3:30pm | ACCN |
| Buffalo at 23 NIU | 3:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Georgia Tech at 19 Louisville | 3:30pm | ESPN2 |
| Arizona State at Texas Tech | 3:30pm | FS1 |
| 12 Utah at 14 Oklahoma State | 4:00pm | FOX |
| Duke at Middle Tennessee | 4:00pm | ESPNU |
| Vanderbilt at 7 Missouri | 4:15pm | SECN |
| UTEP at Colorado State | 5:00pm | truTV/Max |
| TCU at SMU | 5:00pm | The CW |
| East Carolina at Liberty | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Monmouth at FIU | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Tulsa at Louisiana Tech | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Toledo at WKU | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| California at Florida State | 7:00pm | ESPN2 |
| New Mexico State at Sam Houston | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Florida Atlantic at UConn | 7:00pm | CBSSN |
| Florida A&M at Troy | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Northwestern at Washington | 7:00pm | FS1 |
| Wyoming at North Texas | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| 8 Miami (FL) at USF | 7:00pm | ESPN |
| Iowa at Minnesota | 7:30pm | NBC/Peacock |
| 6 Tennessee at 15 Oklahoma | 7:30pm | ABC/ESPN+ |
| Akron at South Carolina | 7:30pm | ESPNU |
| Bowling Green at 25 Texas A&M | 7:30pm | SECN+/ESPN+ |
| Georgia Southern at 5 Ole Miss | 7:45pm | SECN |
| Michigan State at Boston College | 8:00pm | ACCN |
| Baylor at Colorado | 8:00pm | FOX |
| ULM at 1 Texas | 8:00pm | SECN+/ESPN+ |
| Fresno State at New Mexico | 8:30pm | truTV/Max |
| Purdue at Oregon State | 8:30pm | The CW |
| Portland State at Boise State | 9:45pm | FS1 |
| 13 Kansas State at BYU | 10:30pm | ESPN |
| Northern Iowa at Hawaii | 11:59pm | Spectrum PPV |
MY PICKS. OK, so I talked a big game entering season about how accurate I was with My Picks last year – I was 26-12 (!) – but the wheels fell off the wagon to start 2024, and I'm 2-4 after two weeks. This Saturday, I think I have three winners that will help me get back on track.
- USC (-5.5) at Michigan: Yes.
- UCLA at No. 16 LSU (-24.5): This is a massive spread. However, Curt Cignetti, Kurtis Rourke and Indiana just steamrolled UCLA on its home turf (a home turf that's in LA, if you didn't know). Given the Hoosiers' dominance of the Bruins, I have confidence that LSU can cover a four-score spread against UCLA in Death Valley — especially after the Tigers beat a pretty good South Carolina team on the road last weekend.
- No. 6 Tennessee (-7) at No. 15 Oklahoma: I didn't know this until Friday, but Josh Heupel was once Oklahoma's quarterbacks coach (2006-14) and co-offensive coordinator (2010-14) until a less-than-ideal exit from Norman following an 8-5 season in 2014. Could this be the time that Heupel exacts his revenge? I think so. And even if Heupel's not out for blood, Tennessee looks like an elite football team this season, so I expect the Volunteers to cover the spread at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
BACK TO THE BUCKEYES. While Charles Huff's Ohio State and Tudor's Biscuit World NIL comment created national college football headlines, I believe Huff's other remarks about the Buckeyes also deserve attention.
This week, Huff, a former running backs coach at Penn State (2014-17), Mississippi State (2018) and Alabama (2019-20) before he took over as Marshall's head coach in 2021, lauded Ohio State for its talent. He called the Buckeyes "probably the best team I've seen on film, ever," asserting that the compliment was more than him attempting to manage expectations as the coach of a team marked as 40-point underdogs.
"I'm not just saying that to get everybody excited," Huff said. "They're really good."
Huff explained that the 2024 Buckeyes are better than the 2011 national championship Alabama team he coached against at Vanderbilt. That Crimson Tide team had 27 future NFL players on its roster.
"When you look across the board, I'm not saying every player is the best player in the country, but collectively, they have a really good, fast, explosive, physical football team," he said. "You kind of look at what they've done to build their team, $20 million in NIL resources invested into this team. They've been able to go out and acquire some of the best talent in the country."
That talent has performed well through two games, Huff said, noting that Ohio State outscored Akron and Western Michigan by a combined margin of 108-6.
Sorry, Coach Huff. but the Buckeyes will extend that margin on Saturday.
It could be a long bus ride back to the Mountaineer State, but at least Tudor's "Thundering Herd" sausage, potato, egg and cheese biscuit will be waiting for you when you get back to Huntington.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Thunderstruck" - AC/DC.
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