Second-ranked Ohio State knows it can’t think about Miami yet, with hungry Marshall at hand

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Buckeyes vow they won’t look past Herd

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Call it “The Marshall Plan” for Thursday’s season-opening game at No. 2 Ohio State.

In his head-coaching debut, Doc Holliday wants his Thundering Herd to play error-free on offense, force turnovers on defense, to not get rattled by the crowd — and for Ohio State to be thinking ahead to its showdown nine days later against No. 13 Miami.

Much as he hopes the Buckeyes are looking past his team, Holliday realizes the Ohio State coaching staff will take measures to make sure that doesn’t happen in their season opener.

“I don’t know if there’s a perfect time to play them,” Holliday said. “Everywhere I’ve been, at the University of Florida and all those stops we’ve made, (in the) first game the kids were excited about going and playing. And I’m sure Ohio State will be excited about playing us. I’m sure they’re not looking ahead. They’re looking to play us Thursday night.”

Ohio State counterpart Jim Tressel acknowledged that, tempting though it may be for many 20-year-olds, the Buckeyes cannot afford to let their thoughts wander to the Hurricanes on Sept. 11 in the Horseshoe.

“It’s human nature when you think, ‘OK, I’ve got this situation under control, I’m going to think about the next situation,’” said Tressel, who carries a 94-21 record into his 10th Ohio State opener. “This group, we’re a little older. There’s 25 seniors. But it still comes down to each and every day you have to try to stay focused on that task and no matter what’s going on, good or bad, that’s the great challenge.”

It’s a perennial problem for a team that’s been ballyhooed the way the Buckeyes have been this preseason. Many coaches say there are only so many games that players can get excited about. Catch them with their thoughts on the next big game instead of the current one against a mediocre opponent and surprising things happen.

How else to explain what happened just last season?

The Buckeyes had won five of their first six games, the lone loss to then-No. 3 Southern California, which scored eight points in the fourth quarter to win 18-15. Ohio State steamrolled the next four opponents to climb back into the national championship landscape at No. 7. Big games against Penn State, Iowa and Michigan were coming up.

Purdue had lost five of its first six and was 0-2 in the Big Ten. Yet the Boilermakers outplayed the Buckeyes, leading 23-7 heading into the final quarter and winning 26-18.

Ohio State linebacker Ross Homan concedes there have been times when the Buckeyes may have overlooked a team.

“A time like that could have been last year against Purdue,” he said. “We always look back anytime there’s a game we lose, to see if we learned a lesson. We learned the lesson that we’re not doing that this year. We’re all on Marshall. It’s one game at a time.”

Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward proposed that it might be better if the schedule came out one game at a time.

“Marshall is coming in with the mindset that they’re going to beat us. And if we don’t take care of business, they might beat us,” he said. “We haven’t even thought about the next week. We just need to keep a schedule where we only have the first game.”

It’ll be quite a setting for that first game.

More than 105,000 are expected at Ohio Stadium for Ohio State’s 121st season-opening game. The Buckeyes, who have won at least a share of the last five Big Ten titles, are stocked with plenty of experience and talent. The Thundering Herd want to get off on the right foot in the debut of Holliday, who was the associate head coach at rival West Virginia the past two seasons.

On the kickoff, the sound in the massive gray hulk on the banks of the Olentangy will be similar to a Stealth bomber flying a few feet over the players’ heads.

“It will be a great stage for us and get us a lot of exposure,” Marshall quarterback Brian Anderson said. “The Horseshoe, it’s a place that everybody knows if they know anything about college football. It has a lot of history.”

Just as teams have been known to look past an opponent, visiting teams have a propensity for wilting before a raucous, partisan crowd in Columbus. Might that be a problem for the Herd?

Defensive lineman Michael Janac will be more pumped up than nervous.

“I think of 105,000 people, very loud, very intense,” he said. “It makes me more excited.”

The Buckeyes say there’s plenty of time to stew over what lies ahead in a season of promise and possibility.

“That (Miami) week’s going to bring it’s own worries,” Ohio State linebacker Brian Rolle said. “We’re going to worry about Marshall because if we for one second look to the Miami game, then we’ll end up in the situation last year with Purdue — you know, overlooking those guys and come away with a loss.”

Holliday won’t have to do a whole lot of inspirational speaking.

“I was asked a couple of days ago if I was going to give a big speech prior to the game,” he said. “If their tails aren’t ready to play by the time I walk in that locker room, we have some major problems.”