HUNTINGTON, W.Va.— If it is possible for both teams to be underdogs in a rivalry game, Marshall and Ohio may have found a way.
It is the Bobcats who have won three consecutive matchups in the Battle for the Bell, including a 44-7 drubbing in 2012. Marshall quarterback Earlier this week, Rakeem Cato even went as a far as to say that the game isn’t a rivalry right now because of Ohio’s three game winning streak.
“A lot of people realize it has change. Maybe four years ago they (Ohio players) didn’t really feel that Marshall respected them and the program,” Jason Arkley of the Athens Messenger said on Supertalk Sportsline with Paul Swann and Woody Woodrum.
“They definitely get the impression now that they’re on The Herd’s radar, and they’re really starting to take this game seriously. That tends to happen when the other side beats you three times in a row.”
While the Marshall players respect the Ohio program, the Bobcats feel everyone else does not. Marshall is favored by three touchdowns in the Battle for the Bell, despite losing the last three meetings with Ohio.
And the Bobcats are fully aware.
“There’s a strong belief they can win every game,” Arkley said of the Bobcats. “So seeing that line and knowing they’re a big underdog again after beating the same team three games in a row, there’ll be plenty of motivation.”
Now, both teams feel they have something to prove.
Cynics who have doubted the prognosticators’ predictions that Marshall could run the table this season have repeatedly said “Talk to me when you beat Ohio.”
The Herd has played inexplicably poor against Ohio in the last three meetings, turning the ball over 13 times in those games.
Ohio has three straight wins and still the experts doubt it can contain Marshall’s offense. The Bobcats again feel disrespected and will come into Saturday’s game with a chip on their shoulders.
Both teams, looking for respect and both with something to prove, that’s what rivalry games are made of.