Michigan State Interim Head Coach Harlon Barnett: Marvin Harrison Jr. is "One Of The Best Receivers In The Country”

It did not take long for Ohio State standout wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to leave his imprint on the Buckeyes’ 38-3 victory over Michigan State on Saturday.

Harrison feasted against Michigan State’s shorthanded secondary, scoring a trio of first-half touchdowns — two through the air and one on the ground — while finishing with 149 yards on seven catches. As a result of Harrison’s massive first half, Michigan State interim head coach Harlon Barnett lamented his team’s play against the emerging Heisman Trophy candidate.

“[Marvin Harrison Jr. is] a tough matchup. He’s one of the best receivers in the country. We knew that, but I wish we still did some things better, don’t get me wrong. I mean we didn’t want to give up some of the things that he did get.” – Harlon Barnett

While the Spartan defense struggled to slow Harrison, Michigan State’s offense had similar trouble cracking the Silver Bullets. The Spartans were held to just 182 yards of total offense and finished 2-of-14 on third down attempts while averaging only 3.4 yards per play — tying their second-lowest mark of the season.

“I just saw us stalling out. We’d get some nice runs and nice plays and then all of a sudden, we’d take two steps forward and three steps backwards. It felt like that a little bit. We were running the ball fairly effectively, I thought. We just couldn’t sustain drives.” – Harlon Barnett

Ohio State was the third top-10 team to triumph over Michigan State this season, with the Spartans also taking losses to Washington and Michigan earlier in the campaign. With his team’s struggles against top-flight competition this season, Barnett recognized his program still has plenty of work ahead of it before it can return to the pinnacle of college football.

“[Ohio State is] our third top-10 team that we’ve played this year. And I was out there and I was like, ‘We’ve got a ways to go.’ Regardless of the adversity and all of that, you see what teams in the top 10, what they look like and how they play.” – Harlon Barnett

Unlike his squad’s previous two matchups against top-10 opponents, Michigan State’s trek to Ohio Stadium carried extra significance for Barnett.

As a native of Cincinnati and former defensive back for the Spartans, Barnett recognized the mindset of playing against the Buckeyes as an Ohioan, noting that Ohio guys have a little extra juice when they play against their home-state university.

“That’s always been a big deal for us at Michigan State, even back when I played, Ohio guys trying to come to Ohio State to get a win or even when they came to us, we’re trying to win…Since I’ve been a coach, we’ve recruited a lot of guys from Ohio. Whenever we’d come down here and play them or they came up to play us, we’re always talking about how we want to beat these guys because we’re from Ohio.”– Harlon Barnett