The Buckeyes will carry a No. 2 ranking and national championship aspirations into their season opener, which is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, 7:30 EST, at Columbus Ohio. Their opponent is a Marshall team that — like Ohio State — capped a winning 2009 campaign with a bowl victory.

But in contrast to Ohio State, which was 11-2 and defeated Oregon in the Rose Bowl, Marshall went 7-6 and topped Ohio University in the lightly regarded Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. And Thundering Herd head coach Mark Snyder didn't make it that far. Snyder — a former defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes — resigned after the regular season.

Also gone is running back Darius Marshall, who gave up his final year of eligibility entered the pro draft after his second 1,000-yard season for the Herd. But unlike Snyder, who is now defensive coordinator at South Florida, Marshall does not have a job. He went undrafted and has yet to latch on with an NFL team — a failed drug test reportedly being one of the reasons..