ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio football team is seeking its first victory against Marshall since 2000 and its first 3-0 start since 1976 this Saturday night in the Battle for the Bell at Peden Stadium.

The Bobcats lost, 24-23, failing to complete a 2-point conversion pass with no time on the clock, in last year’s matchup with the Thundering Herd in Huntington, W. Va.

But Ohio coach Frank Solich said he is not looking to get to get even with Marshall.

“They want to win them all obviously, and I bore you to death with our approaching of taking it one game at a time, but that’s obviously held up very well for us,” Solich said. “Revenge, that’s really not a use we word in the program. We really want to be as good as we can be. It really has nothing to do with the opponent.”

The Thundering Herd (1-1) likely will pose the Bobcats’ greatest challenge yet his season. They were defeated, 34-13, in a storm-shortened game at West Virginia in their opener, and came up with a come-from-behind victory at home against Southern Mississippi last week.

Marshall has not put up huge numbers offensively, but it has played a pair of strong defensive teams. The Thundering Herd are led by true freshman quarterback Rakeem Cato, who has thrown for 390 yards on 66.7 percent passing with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

“They have a very young quarterback,” Solich said. “He’s been very impressive so far as a freshman quarterback. He played well his first game, but showed improvement this last game and will be an excellent quarterback obviously throughout the rest of the year, so we’ll have our hands full there.”

Aaron Dobson leads the team in receptions with 13 for 91 yards and a pair of scores, while Antavious Wilson has the most yards, 94, on eight catches.

Running back Tron Martinez has carried the rushing load, totaling 145 yards and a 5.4 yards per carry average on the ground. Travon Van has 21 carries, but only 31 yards to show for it, and Marshall has no rushing touchdowns yet this season.

Things will not be much easier this week than the past two, facing an Ohio defense that ranks 21st in the nation, allowing only 246 yards per game.

“They play extremely hard, extremely tough and are well-coached,” Marshall coach Doc Holliday said. “They held New Mexico State to 6 yards rushing. They were ranked second in the MAC last season and are no different this season. We will have our work cut out for us.”

Ohio has done it, despite leader Noah Keller at middle linebacker missing the last game and a half with a hamstring injury. Solich said Monday he is questionable, but Keller said Wednesday he thinks he probably will be able to play.

In his absence, Jelani Wosely, otherwise a backup outside linebacker, has stepped up and led the team in tackles through two games with 15 and last week returned an interception for a touchdown.

Defensive tackle Neal Huynh has 14 tackles, including three for a loss, and safety Gerald Moore has 10 tackles and an interception. Cornerback Travis Carrie has three pass breakups.

Defense has been the strength of the Thundering Herd so far, especially against the run. They have given up just 175 yards total on the ground in two games, while allowing opponents just 2.2 yards per carry. Marshall has 20 tackles for loss.

“Just watching them on tape, they’re a very good defensive football team, very physical,” Solich said. “They’ve got size. They have seniors across the board at the linebacking corps. (Vinny) Curry, of course, at the rush end is one of the best in the country, and so they have the right makeup of players to have an excellent defensive football team.”

Curry (6-4, 263) has nine tackles, including 4.5 for loss – with three of those being sacks.

Linebacker George Carpenter, brother to Ohio safety Nick Carpenter, leads Marshall with 18 tackles. He also has three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Marshall’s defense will challenge Ohio’s offense, which has scored an average of 37 points in its first two games while totaling 843 yards.

The Bobcats, too, have a young quarterback, sophomore Tyler Tettleton, who has needed to throw the ball only a limited number of times the first two times, but has done so fairly well. He is 30 of 52 for 294 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.

LaVon Brazill has been his top target, catching nine balls for 124 yards and one touchdown.

At running back, Donte Harden has 175 yards rushing and an average of 6.2 yards per carry. The Bobcats have bruised their way to 474 rushing yards in total in the first two games.

“They have great skills,” Holliday said. “Their offensive line is extremely tough and plays extremely hard. Their offense comes at you hard and you better line up and be ready to be physical. Our guys need to understand that.”

But the game very well could be decided by special teams and turnovers. Marshall has forced six turnovers, return a punt for a touchdown and has a blocked punt. Ohio also has a defensive score and a punt return touchdown.

“They force those turnovers,” Solich said. “That’s something we’ve lost these first two games. … That’s a concern going in. We’re going to have to take great care of the ball, and we’re going to have to cause a few turnovers ourselves.”

Carrie has Ohio’s punt return for a touchdown, while Andre Booker took one to the house for Marshall. The Bobcats also gave up a kick return touchdown against New Mexico State.

Marshall punter Kase Whitehead excelled against Southern Miss, five times pinning the Eagles inside the 5-yard line.

Half of Ohio punter Paul Hershey’s punts have been downed inside the 20, and kicker Matt Weller has nailed 3 of 4 field goal tries this year, showing off a strong leg.

Once again, Solich said he was focused on his team, not on who the opponent is, even though players on both sides are sure to be excited about the matchup.

“Teams always look at rivalries,” he said. “I’m sure Marshall is very much looking at it that way. I’m sure our team is looking very much at it that way, but again, as far as I’m concerned, every team’s a rival. They either go into the win column for you or they go in the loss column for you, and they all add up in the end. We’ll get ready to play as good a football game we can this game.”

Kickoff at Peden Stadium is set for 7 p.m.