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In each of the first two games, the Herd had won the toss and deferred possession to the second half, sending the defense on the field first, but didn�����Ƶ�t have that option after the coin fell in the Buckeyes�����Ƶ� favor at midfield of Ohio Stadium last weekend.

�����Ƶ�Defensively, you can kind of play a little more aggressive regardless of what the other team does so I kind of like to start there,�����Ƶ� Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. �����Ƶ�Typically I like to try and play for the middle eight (the four minutes before and after halftime) and I always think offensively coming back out after the half and getting the ball, you�����Ƶ�re able to adjust a little bit on what you want to do, what they�����Ƶ�ve done to you earlier, so that�����Ƶ�s just kind of been my philosophy.�����Ƶ�

Without that luxury Saturday, the Herd offense made the most of its chance to set the tone in the first quarter as starting quarterback Stone Earle orchestrated the drive by completing five straight throws after missing on his first while adding 13 rushing yards on Marshall�����Ƶ�s initial drive.

He wouldn�����Ƶ�t take credit, though, redirecting praise to the guys playing in front of him.

�����Ƶ�That�����Ƶ�s two, or really three, weeks in a row where the o-line stepped up and really showed we�����Ƶ�ve got some play makers up there,�����Ƶ� Earle said. �����Ƶ�They did a great job keeping me clean. I feel like there was a lot of times where I was able to sit back there and hit my second third, fourth reads, which is big time ball for a quarterback to be able to do.�����Ƶ�

Marshall�����Ƶ�s offensive line has given up four sacks in three games this season despite facing some of the nation�����Ƶ�s best defensive line talent the past two weeks against Virginia Tech and Ohio State, which combined for three of those quarterback sacks.

In addition to their success in throwing the ball, the offense also moved efficiently on the ground, collecting 125 yards on an Ohio State defense that had allowed 75 the first two games. Herd running backs averaged just more than four yards per carry, more than double what the Buckeyes had been allowing.

�����Ƶ�We haven�����Ƶ�t given up a ton of sacks. I know that sounds remedial, but it was one of our issues last year,�����Ƶ� Huff said. �����Ƶ�The quarterback got hit a lot and I thought Stone did a better job of getting the ball out.�����Ƶ�

And he�����Ƶ�s also only turned the ball over once, on a tipped-ball interception against the Hokies. Huff said the things they focused on during the bye week, like catching the ball with more consistency and slowing down the game from a mental standpoint, among other things, showed up in a big way at Ohio State.

�����Ƶ�From our perspective, there�����Ƶ�s still some things we�����Ƶ�ve got to work on, but when you look at where we were coming out of Virginia Tech, I think the emphasis we put on the bye week showed up today as far as a lot more efficiency and consistency in what we were trying to do from an offensive perspective.�����Ƶ�

Now Marshakk has a chance to perfect its plan against Western Michigan at 3L30 p.m. Saturday as the team returns home for the final non-conference game of the season.

�����Ƶ�We�����Ƶ�ve looked at (this week) as a brand new start, so we�����Ƶ�re going back and looking at all of our installs. We�����Ƶ�re looking at all our tendencies,�����Ƶ� Huff said. �����Ƶ�So we�����Ƶ�ve been able to kind of tighten up our game plans and what we want to do so now the identity of this team, schematically, should really start to come out.�����Ƶ�