Development still a focus as Ohio State returns to field against Marshall

Here are five things to know about the game:

1. Day is looking forward to seeing his full offensive line together for the first time.

Senior Donovan Jackson, a two-year starter and two-time All-Big Ten selection, is expected to return to the lineup after missing the first two games with an unidentified injury.

That means the Buckeyes will be getting back one of their best players from a physical and leadership standpoint.

“I think there’s a little bit of confidence being built there,” Day said of a group returning three starters. “Coming off the last game and then getting Donnie in there, it’s just another piece of that confidence and just solidifying it in there.”

2. Tegra Tshabola and Austin Siereveld are glad to be contributing.

Tshabola, a third-year sophomore from Lakota West, won the starting right guard spot in the preseason while Siereveld, a redshirt freshman from Lakota East, started in Jackson’s place the first two weeks.

Both have been the subject of praise by the coaching staff, and Day said he hopes to continue to get snaps for Siereveld.

“Wherever they need me, if it’s left, right, wherever I need to go in, I can go in and block the dude in front of me,” Siereveld said Wednesday night.

“It was always my dream to come here and play and start. And having that, like, I just gotta keep going, keep building.”

For Tshabola, the start of the season has been gratifying after he battled for a starting job last offseason but ended up back with the second team all season.

“I mean, I feel good, you know? Challenging myself every day to improve, challenging the D-line to help me improve, challenging coaches, coaches are challenging me, pushing me every single day to get better,” he said.

“I just try to go hard every single play. I try to put my best on the field for the guy in front of me and for the guy watching me the next week.”

3. Ohio State’s quarterback room is not a finished product.

While starting quarterback Will Howard revealed he is a football nerd who enjoys the strategic side of the game, Day acknowledged developing depth at that position is on his mind.

The topic came up after Wisconsin lost starter Tyler Van Dyke to a season-ending knee injury Saturday against Alabama.

“We’ve got to build up at every position and obviously that’s one,” Day said. “We got four guys in the game last Saturday. That was good. You don’t know what this week’s going to bring. We’ve got to go play Marshall.

“We’ve got to beat Marshall and then we’ll figure out the rest of it later. If your focus goes anywhere else, I think that’s dangerous, but we’re going to get these guys reps in practice and the more game reps we can get them the better because we do know that’s going to be important.”

4. What about Marshall?

The Thunder Herd might be a tough scout.

Huff’s team started the season with a blowout of FCS team Stony Brook before being beaten soundly at Virginia Tech.

“Coach Huff is very well-respected and does a great job at recruiting, does a good job with his team,” Day said Wednesday night. “He’s been a very good coach in college football for a long time, and he’s hired a very good staff — a mix of youth and experience.

“He gets his guys to play hard. They’re athletic. They’ve got a big front on the defensive side, and they have an identity on offense. They want to spread you out and throw it around a little bit and mix some runs in.”

Marshall has two new quarterbacks after losing two-year starter Cam Fancher, a Wayne High School grad, to transfer (Florida Atlantic).

He was replaced by Stone Earle, a transfer from North Texas, and Braylon Braxton, a Tulsa transfer, who join Marshall legacy Cole Pennington (son of former Herd signal-caller Chad).

Earle started the first two games, but completed only 44 percent of his passes.

Chase Harrison, a Centerville product, also was a member of the Thundering Herd QB room last season but left for Ball State in the winter.

5. Huff does have some familiarity with Ohio State’s roster.

Before becoming the head coach at Marshall in 2021, Huff was the running backs coach at Alabama for two seasons.

That meant he saw a lot of the nation’s top recruits go through the Crimson Tide facilities even if former Alabama head coach Nick Saban couldn’t sign them all.

“Their starting center, Seth McLaughlin, was a freshman for us at Alabama,” Huff recalled. “TreVeyon Henderson was one of the top running backs in the country. We battled Ohio State for him. (Sophomore receiver) Brandon Inniss was one of the most explosive players in the state of Florida when he came out. Caleb Downs has done a really good job for them. And they’ve got some freshmen that are playing like seniors. So they’ve got a really good team.”

SATURDAY’S GAME

Marshall at Ohio State, Noon, FOX, 1410