Marshall Week. The Battle of the Bell. If you’re an Ohio Bobcat or a member of The Herd, that’s all you have to say to stir up all sorts of feelings about this rivalry between these teams of green-and-white. Especially in recent years, it’s been pretty heated. The fires were stoked by a close game in 2010 when the ‘Cats lost by one after failing to convert a two-point conversion, then in 2011 (Ohio’s “revenge game”) when Marshall went down behind freshman QB Rakeem Cato 44-7.
Now it’s a new year and a whole slew of new story lines.
Ohio: 2-0 (W, 24-14 at Penn State. W, 51-24 vs. New Mexico St.). Marshall: 1-1 (L, 69-34 at West Virginia. W, 52-24 vs. Western Carolina).
QB – Ohio: Redshirt junior Tyler Tettleton (6′, 200 lbs.). Marshall: Sophomore Rakeem Cato (6′, 182 lbs.).
The Numbers: Tettleton: 46-64, 581 yards passing, 4 TD, 0 INT, 71.9 completion percentage, 290.5 YPG (yards per game). 16 rushing attempts, 65 yards, 2 TD. Cato: 70-96, 790 yards passing, 5 TD, 1 INT, 72.9 completion percentage, 395 YPG. 6 rushing att., 14 yds., 0 TD.
The Story: This game has the makings of an OK Corral duel between these QB’s. The Herd is sixth in total offense in the FBS with 580 yards per game and Cato leads the nation’s best passing offense with 421.5 yards per game. On the other sideline is Ohio with the 14th best offense in the country and (at least to Bobcat faithful), a dark horse Heisman candidate, Tyler Tettleton. Marshall head coach Doc Holliday spoke about TD Tettleton (© Maddie Kuhn) in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
“There’s no doubt that he has all the intangibles…He’s what a quarterback is all about. He’s a winner…He’s an excellent player that brings a lot to the table…When you talk about (the) Ohio University football team you start with him because he’s the leader of that offense.”
As for his own man under center, Holliday said the most important thing for Cato in the team’s 52-24 drubbing of Western Carolina is that Cato didn’t commit any turnovers. Also, looking at the Herd’s season stats, they have only scored 3 points all season (2 games) in the first quarter, as opposed to 31 in the second, 31 in the third, and 21 in the fourth. Cato even said “my head wasn’t all in it in the beginning” of the game against Western Carolina. Based on these two observations, I think that if Ohio’s defense can get in his young head (he’s a true sophomore after all) at the start, he might crumble a la Mr. McGloin in the first game of the season.
With these two gunslingers, when they drop back and wind up to throw deep, I’ll be picturing the Clint Eastwood Western background. Now spit.
RB – Ohio: Redshirt junior Beau Blankenship (5′ 9″, 202). Marshall: Redshirt sophomore Travon Van (5′ 10″, 193), Redshirt freshman Kevin Grooms (5′ 10″, 165), Redshirt freshman Steward Butler (5′ 9″, 165)
The Numbers: Blankenship: 58 rushes, 277 yards, 4.8 average, 2 TD, 138.5 YPG. 7 receptions, 72 yards, 0 TD. // Van: 26 rushes, 78 yards, 3.0 average, 2 TD, 39 YPG. 5 receptions, 17 yards, 0 TD. Grooms: 17 rushes, 85 yards, 5.0 average, 0 TD, 42.5 YPG. 1 reception, 20 yards, 0 TD. Butler: 18 rushes, 74 yards, 1 TD, 4.1 YPG. 1 reception, 10 yards, 0 TD.
It’s pretty clear that Ohio has the advantage when it comes to the run game. Blankenship has been better than I expected, but I mostly saw him in short-yardage situations as a backup to Donte Harden in 2011. It’s remarkable to see how close he is to his last year totals already (93 rushes, 462 yards, 4 TD). Van is the starter for Marshall, but doesn’t stand out stat-wise. With the Herd’s one-dimensional offense, it seems the Ohio linebackers and secondary will be tested more on Saturday than the defensive linemen. But, as I said earlier, if the D can rattle Cato’s cage at the start, Cato could be his own worst enemy.
Also, Holliday said in his press conference that his defensive line has “guys that haven’t played a lot and still have some growing up to do.” I count that as an advantage for Ohio’s offensive line, which means more yards on the ground and more time for Tettleton to find the open man.
This kid’s name is Blankenship too. Jackson Blankenship. Fun fact: He hates Nickelback.
WR/TE – Ohio: Redshirt junior Donte Foster (6′ 1″, 193), Sophomore Landon Smith (5′ 11″, 180), Redshirt senior TE Jordan Thompson (6′ 4″, 248), Redshirt senior Tyler Futrell (6′, 179), Redshirt senior Bakari Bussey (6′ 2″, 205), Redshirt senior Ryan Clark (listed as a cornerback on team’s official roster) (5′ 9″, 169). Marshall: Senior Aaron Dobson (6′ 3″, 200), Sophomore Tommy Shuler (5′ 8″, 187), Redshirt senior Antavious Wilson (6′ 1″, 196), Sophomore TE Eric Frohnapfel (6′ 6″, 227)
The Numbers: Foster: 10 rec., 89 yds., 2 TD. Smith: 4 rec., 122 yds., 2 TD. Thompson: 3 rec., 40 yds., 0 TD. Futrell: 3 rec., 70 yds., 0 TD. Bussey: 6 rec., 40 yds., 0 TD. Clark: 5 rec., 64 yds., 0 TD. // Dobson: 13 rec., 153 yds., 1 TD. Shuler: 11 rec., 126 yds., 1 TD. Wilson: 9 rec., 138 yds., 0 TD. Frohnapfel: 8 rec., 95 yds. 2 TD.
The Story: Looking at the numbers, it’s very evident that Marshall is a throwing team. They’ve got four receivers above or around 100 yards to Ohio’s two. But, the ‘Cats have a ton of experience and leadership at those positions. They’ll need that if they are down in the game, especially considering that OU has never won at Marshall’s home field Joan C. Edwards Stadium, nicknamed “The Joan.”
There was some worry earlier in the week about Foster playing Saturday. Bobcats’ beat writer Jason Arkley tweeted that Foster didn’t practice Wednesday, sitting out with a wrap on his thumb. There haven’t been any reports listed since, but I know Mr. Arkley will have a full injury report on his Bobcat Blog Friday (which you should be reading already).
As I wrote earlier, Marshall’s receivers may have flashier numbers, but I think Ohio has the advantage of the multidimensional offensive attack, including the fact that Tettleton is highly mobile out of the pocket. But, if Cato can keep finding the open man and wearing down the young Bobcat cornerbacks, the (hunter) green and white team could be digging itself out of a hole or fighting to say on top. (MU: Kelly green, OU: Hunter green)
Not nearly as fun as Shades of Grey…so I’m told.
Defense – A big storyline for the Bobcats this season is the loss of 2012 captain and 2011 All-MAC Second Team cornerback & redshirt senior Travis Carrie to shoulder surgery. Not only is he out for the entire season, redshirt junior corner Jamil Shaw didn’t play against NMSU because of a shoulder problem. Arkley said that Shaw is still questionable, but did participate in practice on Tuesday.
Even though the young guys in the secondary are stepping up a little earlier than they might have anticipated, they’re settling in well. If I were them, after playing at Penn State the first week, I’d feel like I could take on anything. Redshirt freshman CB Ian Wells is tied for fifth on the team in total tackles with 8, and sophomore corner Larenzo Fisher has 6 tackles and a broken up pass so far. Redshirt freshman Devin Bass has also stepped up with 4 total tackles, 1 for loss.
The ‘Cats are solid on defensive line and linebacker. The team’s allowed just 81 yards rushing and under 200 yards passing per game. They also had 6 sacks against the Aggies last week.
Marshall’s D has been racking up the tackles with eight guys who have over ten on the year, led by grad student safety Dominick Legrande with 20. The Herd has 2 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 2 INT and 2 forced fumbles. The Bobbies have 6 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 2 INT (one for a TD) and one FF.
I think this Ohio team will succeed by sticking with the plan that worked last year, which is allowing Cato to beat himself. In 2011, Cato was 9-for-21, 121 yards and 4 picks. This Ohio defense is going to do what they can to force him into pressure and, thus, make mistakes.
He rocks some sweet face salad though.
Special Teams – Ohio: K redshirt senior Matt Weller, P redshirt freshman Grant Venham (pronounced ‘venom’, which is awesome). Marshall: K redshirt sophomore Justin Haig, redshirt freshman Trent Martin, P freshman Tyler Williams
The Stats: Weller: 4-7 FG, 3-4 on 20-29 yds., 1-2 on 30-39 yds., 0-1 on 40-49 yds. Long: 37. 9-9 PAT. 15 kickoffs, 64 yards per kickoff, 4 touchbacks. Venham: 5 punts, 38 yards per punt, 1 touchback, 3 inside the 20. Long: 53. // Haig: 3-4 FG, 2-2 on 20-29 yds., 1-2 on 30-39 yds. Long: 34. 11-11 PAT. 6 kickoffs, 55 yards per kickoff, 1 touchback. Martin: 9 kickoffs, 59 yards per kickoff, 1 touchback. Williams: 5 punts, 48 yards per punt, 0 touchbacks, 2 inside the 20. Long: 59.
After a Week One that left Ohio fans shaking their heads in confusion (1-3 FG, misses from 44, 39 yds.), Bobcat placekicker Matt Weller was back to his old self last week. He was 3-4 in field goals (a 22-yarder was blocked) and knocked through all six PAT. For the icing on the cake (more like a cake on top of the cake), he became Ohio Football’s all-time leading scorer. For the icing on top of those two cakes, Weller was named the MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week. Start eatin’.
Or some cake pops. I know it’s midseason, gotta watch your figure.
To be honest, I know nil about the Marshall special teams, but it looks like they can get the job done. I don’t have much faith to have in Haig’s leg, since he’s young. All he did last year was a 24-yarder against Louisville and his longest FG in high school was 49 yards.
As for the return games for each of these teams, two things stand out. One is that Marshall senior wide receiver Andre Snipes-Booker and redshirt freshman running back Steward Butler grab up decent yards on kick returns, averaging 21 and 25 yards per return, respectively. They could have a field day against OU’s return D because (and here’s the second thing) the ‘Cats have allowed 24 yards per KR this year, including a TD.
Prediction – With all of this being said, I think Cato has improved a little from last year and gets some good looks on Ohio’s young, but steadily improving, defense. However, Ohio has a huge advantage with Tettleton as well as Blankenship and the fact that their high-octane offense will be lining up against a young Marshall D-line. The ‘Cats put up 559 offensive yards on this team last season! The Bobcats will find their rhythm on both sides, even in such a hostile atmosphere, and stay undefeated in 2012. Ohio – 38, Marshall – 17.
P. S. – The game is Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Edwards Stadium in Huntington. It’s not on TV or ESPN3 because Marshall is in Conference – USA and CUSA doesn’t have a deal with ESPN, so Marshall is charging $9.99 to stream the game on their website.
P. P. S. – More national coverage for Ohio via Yahoo! Sports. (no Jim Schnaus mention this time *sad face*)
P. P. P. S. – Reaction by @bustedcoverage to that article. (Maybe he’s a Redhawks fan).
Aaaand one more thing. Looking at Marshall’s website, they have ads saying people can download a MU toolbar that links to news about them as well as a theme. Even though they’re for Internet Explorer, that’s still pretty sweet.
No Cheering in the Press Box 
