James Franklin breaks down what makes Marvin Harrison Jr. special

Head coach James Franklin will lead the Penn State Nittany Lions into Columbus this weekend to take on an incredibly talented Ohio State Buckeyes team. It’s an important game for both teams and Franklin knows that one of the top priorities for Penn State needs to be stopping wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. if they’re going to leave with a win.

During his Tuesday press conference, Franklin praised Harrison for his skill set and explained that the defense is going to need to be prepared for him.

“Well, I think number one, the thing that jumps out to me is his body control and ball skills,” James Franklin said. “He’s got the ability to contort his body in the positions and catch the ball effortlessly. I think that’s the first thing.”

Through six games this season, Harrison has 31 receptions for 604 yards and five touchdowns. He’s also been able to do that while getting more attention from opposing defenses than any other player on Ohio State’s offense. Throughout this season, Harrison has even become a Heisman Trophy candidate, despite not playing quarterback.

“The other thing, he’s just smooth and fluid. You know, a guy that you guys are familiar with that I think was smooth and fluid similar to him is Jahan [Dotson]. The difference is this guy is doing it at 6’3″, 6’4″. It’s interesting, you watch him on tape and he looks like he’s got good size, but when you see him in person he’s a big dude,” Franklin said.

“And I think it’s his consistency. He’s just consistently made plays. Obviously, he makes spectacular plays, but he makes the routine plays as well. So, he’s obviously somebody that we’ve got to be aware of at all times. We’ve got a ton of respect for him and how they use him.”

James Franklin on where Penn State stands

At the midway point of the season, Penn State is unbeaten and has had one of the country’s best defenses to go with a young and rapidly improving offense. Still, James Franklin remains focused on improving every week.

“More than anything, we want to be 1-0 each week. That’s the obvious thing, and we were able to do that up to this point. The other thing that’s important to me is are we getting better each week? And I feel like we’re doing that. Even tonight, we gave up some yards there at the end, but again, my argument is the value of those guys getting in the game [and] playing is going to pay off for us down the road,” Franklin said.

“There’s still things that we got to get cleaned up. There’s no team in the country, there’s no team in the NFL, that there’s not areas that you get critiqued about. Constructive criticism, that we’re trying to get better in certain areas. But, overall, I like where we’re at. We have found ways to win. We’ve won different ways. We’ve won on the road. We’ve won at home. We’ve won an 11 a.m. We’ve won in the rain. We’ve won in the heat, conference opponents, non-conference opponents and I just think we’re getting better.”