Marshall Thundering Herd @ Ohio State Buckeyes: Free Pick

The Thundering Herd return one of the top defensive fronts in their conference, and while that won’t necessarily give them a shot to topple #2 ranked OSU, it should keep them within covering distance of the favored Buckeyes. They stop the run pretty well, and return some big timer players in terms of rushing the passer, like senior linebacker, Mario Harvey.

Where they struggle is in the secondary, but that won’t likely hurt them too bad against the Buckeyes. OSU can throw it, but they are a run-first team, without a doubt. With a puttering offense last season, the Herd still managed to stay in the Top half in terms of points against, allowing a shade over 24 per game. The Buckeyes’ defense is legit, and they will shut down the Herd for most of the day – I don’t doubt that. I just don’t see Ohio State putting up enough points to cover the 4 touchdown spread over a pretty solid Marshall team.

Doc Holliday is the new coach up at Marshall, and his pedigree as an assistant speaks for itself. Given his first shot at his own team, I think he gets his guys to come out and play with a sense of confidence out of the gate. They have some homerun hitters in the backfield, and a couple scores could seal the spread just like that. Marshall’s defense is primed to put up a fight against Ohio State’s strengths – that’s a recipe for a cover.

Marshall Thundering Herd (+28.5) @ #2 Ohio State Buckeyes