COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Marshall wide receiver Wayne Bonner did not make the trip to Thursday's game with Ohio State, and may miss the season on an eligibility issue.

Bonner, the 6-foot-3, 199-pound senior from Milledgeville, Ga., had an excellent spring and preseason camp, seemingly resurrecting his Thundering Herd career. He rose to the first unit at one of the outside receiver sports.

MU had filed a waiver for an unspecified reason, but the NCAA denied the waiver this week. School officials have filed an appeal, and the result should be known by next week's home game with West Virginia.

Aaron Dobson, the sophomore from Dunbar who missed some of camp with a hand injury, started Thursday night. He caught three passes for 34 yards.

In other personnel moves, wide receiver Antavious Wilson changed from No. 82 to No. 9, and cornerback Rashad Jackson has changed from No. 44 to No. 5.

Middle linebacker Kellen Harris dressed and participated in pregame warmups, but did not play. Tyson Gale started and had 41/2 tackles.

Harris was definitely missed, said Herd coach Doc Holliday.

"We missed him. He's one of the leaders of our defense," Holliday said. "We don't have enough good players. When you take one of your better players out, you're going to miss him. We've got to have him back next week. ... There were a couple of plays they made that if he was in there, wouldn't have happened."

Brian Anderson was sacked just once, but that is a testament to his ability to throw the ball away, out of harm -- though he might have made a better decision on his interception, which Brian Rolle returned 30 yards for a touchdown.

But Anderson felt a lot of heat from the Buckeyes, and it affected the play call. It also affected his ability to find tight end Lee Smith -- whether it was Smith staying on the line for extra protection, or being otherwise detained.

Smith caught just one pass for 8 yards. He was targeted two other times, dropping a ball thrown behind him and having no chance for another one.

"Some of the plays we had designed to go to him, we had to check out of, which definitely cut down his catches a little bit," Anderson said. "They have good cover guys.

"He definitely stayed in [to block], especially in the first half. We were doing a lot of run-pass option on a lot of plays, and he was in the blocking scheme."

The Herd's kickers struggled, as they had from time to time in the preseason.

Punter Kase Whitehead hit just two 40 yards or more, averaging 36.8 on eight attempts. To add insult, the Herd was flagged twice for an illegal formation, having five players in the backfield, and twice for delay of game.

Tyler Warner missed a 41-yard field goal in the first quarter, leaving the Herd empty-handed in its first of just three forays into Buckeyes territory. Holliday thought an off-target snap contributed.

While Ohio State fans were giddy about the start of a potential national championship season, Thursday's game was overshadowed by news about the restructuring of the Big Ten.

With Nebraska entering the league as a 12^th team in 2011, the league split into two divisions. The alignment brought some anxiety, but none as much as whether the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry would continue, and whether it would take place on the last week of the league's regular season, as it has been since 1935.

The league unveiled its alignment, and the Buckeyes and Wolverines were placed in opposite sides. Ohio State is grouped with Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin, while Michigan is lumped with Michigan State, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Northwestern.

But the 2011 and 2012 schedules pitted the teams in their customary spot, though it's now the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Apparently, the fans cried foul over all talk of moving what is knows as "The Game" to another spot on the calendar, perhaps early October.

Columbus Dispatch columnist Bob Hunter credited that outcry for saving the tradition. Even Tom Osborne, the legendary Nebraska coach and current athletic director, received some heat on the topic.

"The fans recognized the value of what they had and refused to have it taken from them without a fight," Hunter said. " ... allow me to say what we all should say to those vocal fans who refused to let this happen: Thanks."

With the Buckeyes and Wolverines in different divisions, that opens up another possibility: Two rivalry games in two weeks.

With deep ties to both schools, former Marshall coach George Chaump attended, making a pregame appearance on a Columbus radio station.

Chaump was the quarterbacks coach under Woody Hayes from 1968-71, including the Buckeyes' national championship '68 team. He later took the Marshall head coaching job in 1986, taking the Thundering Herd on its storybook run to the 1987 Division I-AA national championship. He left after 1989 for an unsuccessful stint at Army, and later returned to high school coaching in the Harrisburg, Pa., area.

He remains coach at Harrisburg High, though his administrative position was cut this summer in the school district's fiscal crisis.

True freshman Eddie Sullivan's first pass looked like a beauty, but Troy Evans dropped it 20 yards downfield. His first completion came to Demetrius Evans, also a true freshman.

His redshirt was coming off, as there was no thought of holding him out.

"We were planning on playing him," Holliday said. "We were going to try to get him in a little earlier. We just did what we did toward the end of the game -- we were just letting the guys go play. We got a lot of kids in the game and we've got a lot of football ahead of it."

Other true freshmen to play included tight end Gator Hoskins and running back Tron Martinez, who also entered in the fourth quarter. Linebackers Trevor Black and T.J. Ross were the Herd's other true freshmen who played but came in earlier. Defensive lineman Brandon Sparrow was credited with a tackle.

Briefly

-- It was alumni band day at Ohio State, so there was a considerable throng of brass and percussion players on the field. As such, the band rolled out its quadruple Script Ohio at halftime.

-- As dreadful a game as it was for the Herd, there was a sign the Mark Snyder era is past: It won the coin toss and took the ball. Snyder generally preferred to defer.

-- Ohio State improved to 12-1-1 against teams currently in Conference USA, losing only to Southern Methodist in 1950.

Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.