COLUMBUS, Ohio — Whether it’s a toe tap in the corner of the end zone, acrobatic body movement, or ball control… each week Ohio State junior wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. makes extraordinary plays look simple, and even routine, when they are anything but that.
Harrison Jr. just makes playing wide receiver in college football look easy and Saturday’s 38-3 win against Michigan State was no different when it comes to his performance in the team win. This is true even though he only played one half of the game.
Harrison Jr. continued to build a case for himself as the best player in all of college football this season, deserving of the Heisman Trophy Award.
Finished for the day with 5:31 left to play in the third quarter, Harrison Jr. grabbed seven receptions on nine targets on Saturday. This was good for 149 yards and two receiving touchdowns. He also added one rushing attempt for 19 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
Harrison Jr. has broken and set records in Ohio State’s all time history book throughout the season. But more importantly for him, he has been a consistent target for his team when needed. Harrison consistently shows up big and showcases his connection with former high school teammate and current Buckeye quarterback Kyle McCord.
When the team needs him and the offense takes time to get into a rhythm, it’s often the McCord to Harrison Jr. connection that makes its presence known on the field and gets the chains moving for the Ohio State offense.
Early on Saturday, McCord and Harrison Jr. were clicking. This gave the Buckeyes their first “hot start” of the season — something they had been striving to do all year. The Buckeyes scored a touchdown on five of their first six possessions.
McCord was also on point on Saturday and was setting Harrison Jr. up for success with perfectly thrown balls, led by his solid footwork and poise in the pocket. McCord was 24-of-31 for 335 yards and three touchdowns in the win. His 335 yards became his new career high passing yards, surpassing 320 yards against Maryland this season. He was dropping dime after dime to a number of Buckeye offensive weapons — not limited to Harrison Jr.
In addition to breaking records and making flashy grabs, Harrison Jr. continues to add to his game each week. This week, it was a 19-yard rushing touchdown to open scoring on the Buckeyes’ first drive. It was his first rushing touchdown of the season.
Harrison Jr. said following the win that the rushing touchdown was easily his favorite of the three touchdowns against Michigan State.
On Saturday with a 3-5 overall opponent that was unlikely to pose a significant threat to Ohio State, it was an opportunity for Harrison Jr. to shine often winning one-on-one matchups with ease. Even when he was double-teamed for most of the night, Harrison Jr. still found ways to get open and make an impact. He only had two drops on the night.
With his third touchdown of the night, all before halftime, Harrison Jr. moved past Cris Carter and into fourth-place all-time at Ohio State with 28 career touchdown receptions. Through 10 games on the season, Harrison Jr. now has 29 touchdowns on the season.
Harrison Jr. also became the first Ohio State wide receiver in all-time history to have two 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He had 1,263 yards during his unanimous All-American sophomore season in 2022 and reached 1,066 yards so far this season following Saturday’s win.
Harrison Jr. also tied David Boston’s all-time Ohio State record with 14 100-yard receiving games. He has had seven of those so far this season including Saturday night. It was also Harrison’s fourth career 3-touchdown game.
Photo via Ohio State Dept. of Athletics.
OSU is playing Minnesota today. It’s probably a slam dunk anyway and hardly worth watching, let alone writing about. Still I miss the pregame articles.
Buckeyes 34
Minnesota 10