Marshall ranks 86th in rushing defense (Ohio ranks 71)
Marshall ranks 107th in passing defense (Ohio ranks 10)
Marshall ranks 110th in total defense (Ohio ranks 30)
Marshall ranks 109th in scoring defense (Ohio ranks 75)
Marshall ranks 92nd in rushing offense (Ohio ranks 97)
Marshall ranks 86th in passing offense (Ohio ranks 117)
Marshall ranks 95th in total offense (Ohio ranks 119)
Marshall ranks 101st in scoring offense (Ohio ranks 105)
Marshall ranks 112th in turnover Margin (Ohio ranks 105)
Offensively it's basically a wash. Both offensives have been anemic (with Marshall having the slight edge)
Defensively, Ohio utterly destroys them at stopping the pass and overall defense..
Ohio is consistently ranked in the top half of their conference in almost every stat.
Marshall is in the bottom half. With Houston's QB injury double whammy, the MAC is by far a tougher conference than cUSA.
You make valid points but let me add to it as well. Ohio State currently has the #7 ranked defense in the nation. WVU has the #10 ranked defense in the nation. Ohio State has the #20 ranked offense in the nation and WVU's offense is ranked #26. Bowling Green's Passing Offense is ranked 29th in the nation. Our Strength of Schedule, according to Jeff Sagarin, is the 6th toughest schedule in the country after three weeks. As much as our offense has turned the ball over and as much yardage as our defense has allowed we're still two fumbles away from being 2-1 at this point.
Ohio also faced Ohio State but match ups with Wofford and Toledo result in a Strength of Schedule rating of #79. Am I saying SOS is indicative of how good either team is on any given day? No. I'm just giving some context to the ranking comparisons above.
From a Marshall standpoint we don't know what we have. We've been Jekyll and Hyde to this point so far. The roller coaster is killing me to be honest. We played horrible against OSU, played arguably the best 55 minutes of football against WVU than we've played since the late 90's, and then went into a buzz saw last week at BGSU hungover and unprepared and got our butts kicked. Consistent play, turnovers and the ability to close football games are our biggest weaknesses to this point.
I really don't know what to expect from Doc and company this Saturday. You guys might see all three QBs. Anderson is a true pocket passer. Sullivan is short and still a little rough around the edges but is quick and can keep plays alive with his feet. AJ gives us a strong arm and a zone read option. I figure we'll see a few of the true freshman wide receivers get some playing time this week too. We can't keep the same couple of guys out there all day running pass routes and not expect them to get tired, we need the depth there. You'll see Martin Ward and Andre Booker in the backfield. Unless something changes this week Ward probably won't carry the ball as often as he did in the Pizza Bowl. Our offensive line has given up one sack all season.
Defensively, Mario Harvey and Vinny Curry are tied for 7th in the nation with 4 sacks a piece. The Defense is tied with LSU, Arizona and NC State at #6 in the nation in sacks. Our defensive backfield is horrible. They've been torched by every team we've played so far. Both of our starting corners were dismissed from the team this summer leaving us to play freshmen, a JUCO transfer and a senior coming back from an injury.
I know you guys aren't fans of the short passes but Bowling Green ran up and down the field on us by utilizing 3 step drops. They neutralized our pass rush by dinking and dunking us to death for most of the game. We'll be in for a long night if your line can give your QB time to throw Saturday night.