COLUMBUS, Ohio Ƶ Marshall entered the halftime break trailing by only two scores, but thatƵs as close as the Thundering Herd could come to No. 3 Ohio State in a 49-14 loss at Ohio Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Buckeyes put on an offensive display, collecting more than 500 yards of offense and building a highlight reel full of long scoring plays to help overcome an early deficit and run away with the contest in the second half.
ƵSome really, really, really good football players over there,Ƶ Marshall coach Charles Huff said. ƵI thought our guys battled 60 minutes. (Ohio State) wore us down a little bit in the second half, but I thought we showed when we do what we need to do (and control) the things we can control, we can play with anybody in the country.Ƶ
The BuckeyesƵ first impression of the Herd was staggering as the Marshall defense drew first blood with a 75-yard scoring drive to open the contest, capped by Ethan PayneƵs 1-yard touchdown run after a nearly 7-minute drive.
Marshall's Stone Earle (11), right, fumbles the ball near the one yard line as Ohio State's Lathan Ransom (8) dives in to takle as the Marshall University football team takes on Ohio State on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
- Ryan Fischer | The Herald-Dispatch
That was the kind of pressure that Huff wanted to put on the Buckeyes early in the game and, for a while, it worked.
ƵI thought the biggest play today was, we go down there on the goal line and we punch it in,Ƶ Huff said. ƵThatƵs a manƵs yard down on the goal line. And I thought offensively, we were a lot more efficient today. IƵm not saying we were great and weƵre there, but we were a lot more efficient today.Ƶ
Marshall tallied 264 yards of total offense, the majority of which came in the first half as the Thundering Herd reached the end zone twice for the first two touchdowns against Ohio StateƵs defensive unit this season.
Stone Earle finished the game completing 16 of 21 throws for a season-high 132 yards and a touchdown to Elijah Metcalf before leaving with a cramp in the third quarter.
Metcalf was his favorite target in the loss, hauling in all eight passes that were thrown his way to lead Marshall with 68 receiving yards.
But what the Herd did on offense paled in comparison to Ohio StateƵs firepower as the Buckeyes ripped off four touchdowns of 40-plus yards and exposed some weaknesses in the HerdƵs defense.
One of those plays Ƶ a 68-yard screen pass from Will Howard to Emeka Egbuka Ƶ leveled the game at 7-7 in the first quarter. Quinshon Judkins logged the third-longest rushing play in Ohio State history with an 86-yard touchdown that pushed the BuckeyesƵ lead to 21-7, and TreyVeyon Henderson and Jeremiah Smith reached the end zone from 40 and 53 yards out, respectively, to help put the game away in the second half.
MarshallƵs offense conjured very little with Earle out of the game, eventually leaning on Cole Pennington as the third-string quarterback after Braylon Braxton rolled his ankle and left the game.
ƵThat kind of really put us in a different situation,Ƶ Huff said. ƵThey were able to score back to back, so it kind of changes the mindset a little bit. They banged us up pretty good. Hopefully we get back to Huntington and some of these guys are ready to go next week, but we started going down pretty quickly in the second half.Ƶ
The Marshall offense mustered up just 61 yards over the final two quarters and threw only six times in the second half after two third-quarter touchdowns broke the game open.
ƵWe havenƵt been hit with too much adversity in the season, but (Marshall) going out there and scoring, we just had to take a chip on our shoulder that second drive and the drives after that,Ƶ Ohio State defensive back Jordan Hancock said. ƵThatƵs what we did. We just had to go out there and make adjustments because we have some really good coaches, and theyƵre trying to put us in the best position for us to win.Ƶ
Two plays turned the game in favor of the Buckeyes in the first half, the first of which was a failed Marshall conversion attempt on fourth-and-1 where Earle slipped and lost yardage, leaving a short field for Ohio State.
Six plays later, Howard snuck in from a yard out to give the Buckeyes their first lead of the afternoon.
Then, after Ohio State muffed a punt and Marshall recovered it inside the BuckeyesƵ 10-yard line, the play was called back for an illegal formation and Judkins had his long scoring run on the next play.
ƵHe was just off the ball in his alignment, just so happened that was on the one that (they) muff it,Ƶ Huff said. ƵThatƵs why you have to play sound for 60 minutes, because you never know when an opportunity is gonna come up. I would (have) liked to see just how we responded if we were able to get the ball in that position.Ƶ
Howard finished 16 of 20 passing for 275 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Judkins tallied 175 yards on 14 carries to lead the BuckeyesƵ ground attack, which found the end zone four times in the win.
Defensively, Josh Moten registered an interception for the Herd, while Jaden Yates led Marshall with seven tackles in his return to his hometown.
Marshall returns home Sept. 28 to face Western Michigan, while Ohio State opens Big Ten play on the road at Michigan State on the same day.
