Marvin Harrison Jr. named Heisman Trophy finalist
COLUMBUS — New York City, here comes Marvin Harrison Jr. The all-world Ohio State superstar wide receiver is the fifth Buckeyes player in the last six years to become a Heisman Trophy finalist.
He joins the late Dwayne Haskins Jr. (2018), Justin Fields (2019), Chase Young (2019) and C.J. Stroud (2021, 2022). Harrison is hoping to become the fifth wide receiver to ever win the award.
Ohio State is tied with Notre Dame, Oklahoma and USC for the most Heisman trophies (seven) of any program in the country. The Buckeyes now have eight additional Heisman finalists.
Harrison is in the running with LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
Harrison burst onto the scene at Ohio State with a breakout, three-touchdown performance in the Rose Bowl at the end of the 2021 season.
From there, he was off and running.
The former four-star prospect has set records in his two years as a starter in the Buckeyes offense. He now holds the record for most 100-yard receiving games in program history (15), and he became the first Ohio State wide receiver to ever stack 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Unless he decides to play in the Cotton Bowl, he finished his Buckeyes career catching 155 passes for 2,613 yards and 31 touchdowns. As far as the program record book goes, he’s sixth all-time in catches and receiving yards and third all-time in receiving touchdowns.
And he did it all with just two seasons as a starter.
“Marv is a special player,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said in early November. “And we’re always gonna try find ways to get on the ball. Not that it’s always easy.”
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The 6-foot-4, 205-pound junior is widely projected as the highest-drafted wideout since Calvin Johnson Jr. went No. 2 overall in 2007. Harrison revealed this fall that he played last year with a bum ankle. It’s easy to forget, but he suffered an ankle injury this season as well, Week 4 at Notre Dame.
Harrison is known for his unbelievable catch radius, hence his 13 contested catches in 2023, and he routinely impresses with his high-level speed, like early this season when he notched two receiving touchdowns of 70-plus yards.
Harrison found the end zone in all but two games this year. He finished the regular season by scoring touchdowns in eight straight games. That stretch featured three consecutive multi-score performances (Week 9 at Wisconsin, Week 10 at Rutgers and Week 11 versus Michigan State). That’s when Ohio State’s Heisman Trophy campaign for Harrison began.
Harrison has made an even greater impact on the Buckeyes in 2023 than he did in 2022, despite being double teamed or bracketed most of the year.
Accounting for close to a quarter of Ohio State’s total offense and more than a quarter of its touchdowns this season, he brought in 67 passes for 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns, not to mention his first career rushing touchdown against Michigan State in Week 11.
Harrison’s stardom will take center stage Saturday evening in New York, where he’ll be accompanied by three veteran quarterbacks for the awarding of most prestigious honor in college football.
