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 Little Caesars Bowl Marshall vs. Ohio
Saturday, December 26, 2009 12 PM ET ESPN
Neither offense is what you'd call dynamic, or even productive for that matter. Both are ranked outside of the top 75 in total offense and both averaged less than 26 points per game this season.
While I don't expect an offensive showcase in this one, I do expect Ohio's defense to make a little noise against Marshall quarterback Brian Anderson who threw 13 interceptions this season, including 3 in the Thundering Herd's regular season finale against UTEP.
Meanwhile, the Ohio Bobcats defense picked off 20 passes this season, six coming from freshman cornerback Gerald Moore. Their 20 interceptions are tied for the fourth highest total in the FBS. Marshall running back Darius Marshall will be relied upon to carry the Thundering Herd offense against an Ohio defense not known for their run stopping ability.
 Marshall will be led by interim head coach Rick Minter. Doc Holliday, who was named the new Thundering Herd head coach, is not expected to be on the field for the game. There's a sense of rebirth in Marshall with Holliday coming to town. Fans are talking about the days of Chad Pennington, Randy Moss and Byron Leftwich and their five MAC Championships won shortly after joining Division I. Now a member of Conference USA, Marshall's thunder has been effectively depleted.
I don't particularly like their chances of beginning this resurgence in Detroit on Saturday. Ohio is an underrated football team who finished second in a conference that includes two of this year's surprise teams in Central Michigan and Temple. The Bobcats' one bad loss was to conference rival Kent State, with their other losses coming against Connecticut, Tennessee and Central Michigan. The Bobcats were not run out of town by Tennessee and mounted a fourth quarter comeback against UConn that fell just short. They have only one quality win against Temple.
Against CMU, the Ohio passing game managed 11 completions, 7 to Terrence McCrae who had more receiving yards (141) than quarterback Theo Scott had passing yards (138) thanks to a 29 yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Taylor Price. I'd like to see Ohio spread the ball around more in this one, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem against the nation's 99th ranked pass defense.
There's a sense of excitement around Marshall with Doc Holliday coming to town. He's known in West Virginia having served as a West Virginia Mountaineers assistant on two occasions; he even won a national championship with Florida in 2007. But his tenure starts next year, not Saturday afternoon. - Danny Hobrock
Danny is a sports journalist who primarily covers college football and professional baseball. He is a contributor for several sports related blogs and is the former editor of a political and current events website.
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