OSU vs. Marshall

Five things to look for:

1. OSU hasn’t lost a home opener since Sept. 16, 1978.
2. Coach Jim Tressel is 9-0 in season openers with the Buckeyes.
3. In their only other meeting, OSU downed Marshall 24-21 in 2004 on a Mike Nugent field goal.
4. The Buckeyes are 25-2 at Ohio Stadium under Tressel in non-conference games.
5. OSU enjoyed one of the most successful decades in Big Ten history during the 2000s, going 102-25 (.803) from 2000 to 2009.
OSU wins 38-7

For the first time since Aug. 28, 1997, The Ohio State University will start the home season not on a Saturday.
In that 1997 game, the Buckeyes beat Wyoming 24-10.
Thursday, OSU welcomes in Marshall University from Conference USA.
The Buckeyes are ranked second nationally, except for Lindy’s (third) and Blue Ribbon (first).
OSU has key players back from last season’s team that finished 11-2 overall, 7-1 in the Big Ten. It was the fifth straight season the Buckeyes tied or finished first outright in the conference.
On offense, it starts with Rose Bowl Most Valuable Player Terrelle Pryor.
The junior in, 26 games, started hadn’t gained that signature win in the non-conference play, falling to Texas in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl (he started the game at wide receiver, but played the majority of the time at quarterback) and Southern California in the 2009 regular season until this year.
He was impressive in leading OSU to a 26-17 win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
That performance has elevated him into the Heisman Trophy running. Some even think he will bring the Heisman back to Columbus, even though Alabama running back — and 2009 Heisman winner — Mark Ingram is still around.
It doesn’t stop with Pryor.
The Buckeyes have a full staple of running backs, receivers and offensive lineman around. The major questions are depth and left tackle. Junior Mike Adams get the first chance at protecting Pryor’s blind side.
The defense is in a similar situation with returners, especially at linebacker. Cameron Heyward is a stud at defensive end and Chimdi Chekwa and Devon Torrence are good at cornerbacks.
The questions come from depth at defensive line and at defensive back.
Devin Barclay is back at kicker, while the punter will be new.
The Thundering Herd were a force in the Mid-American Conference with championships from 1997 to 2000 and 2002 and producing National Football League players like wide receiver Randy Moss and quarterbacks Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich.
But they struggled under former OSU coach Mark Snyder, going 22-37 from 2005 to 2009.
Doc Holliday is the man in charge of the Thundering Herd team now.
Senior linebacker Mario Harvey and senior tight end Lee Smith  are both preseason All-Conference USA picks that are on national award watch lists.
Harvey is a candidate for the Nagurski Trophy and the Lombardi Award, while Smith is on the preseason John Mackey Award Watch List.