Greg Schiano describes challenge of defending Marvin Harrison Jr.

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano knows the biggest challenge from one player lies with Marvin Harrison Jr.

The Ohio State wide receiver and the rest of the Buckeyes (8-0) come to town Saturday for a Big Ten tilt as they look to stay undefeated and avoid a massive upset from a hungry Rutgers (6-2) team. If the Scarlet Knights have any hope, it starts by containing Harrison Jr. because it’s nearly impossible to stop him.

He certainly gained the utmost respect from Schiano.

“Yeah, Marvin Harrison, Jr. is arguably one of the best players in the country,” Schiano said. “He’s continued to improve. You can see he’s a real professional the way he’s prepared, and again when you’re going against players of that skill, they are very dangerous.”

This season, Harrison Jr. has 48 catches, 889 yards, eight touchdowns and 18.5 yards per catch. Over the course of his career, he has 136 catches for 2,291 yards, 25 touchdowns and 16.8 yards per catch.

As a member of the Class of 2021, Harrison Jr. was a four-star recruit out of Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph’s Prep School, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 4 overall prospect in the state, the No. 11 wide receiver in the class and the No. 73 overall prospect in the class.

Should Schiano’s talented defense actually limit Harrison Jr., it might give Rutgers a shot. Although the Scarlet Knights opened as 18.5 point underdogs at home and never came within three scores of Ohio State across nine minutes.

“Yeah, I do very little big picture when it comes to that stuff,” Schiano said. “We’re trying to be 1-0 at the end of the Ohio State season. We have to have a great week of preparation to do that, and then we have to go play our best game and see where that stacks up against theirs.

And I can’t control anything about them but I certainly can us. And that’s going to be my focus; that we have a great, consistent week of practice, and then go play our best game of the season.”

In what could be a battle of talented defenses, Rutgers’ offense arguably faces its biggest challenge of the Big Ten slate. Schiano, like he did with Harrison Jr., didn’t mince words about the Buckeyes’ unit.

“They have got a lot of good players. You’re looking at a front that is probably all NFL players. Their front seven will be all NFL players. But the good thing is, the back four or five are all NFL players as well. So you’re looking at a defense that is probably — I mean, I don’t want to be exaggerating. 

“I think every single guy there will be an NFL player, which — including some especially depth players, which it is what it is. That’s why they are one of the top defenses in the country. We’ll have our hands full for sure.”