Marvin Harrison Jr. is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award for the second year in a row.
The Ohio State wide receiver was named Tuesday as one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, which honors college football’s top pass-catcher, along with LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers and Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze.
Congratulations to Marvin Harrison Jr. @MarvHarrisonJr on being named a Biletnikoff Award Finalist! The Biletnikoff Award recognizes the college football season's outstanding FBS receiver at any position. @OhioStateFB @OhioStAthletics #OutstandingReceiver #NCFAA pic.twitter.com/pGMfQpM39t
— Biletnikoff Award (@biletnikoffawrd) November 28, 2023
The winner of the Biletnikoff Award will be named on Dec. 8 during ESPN’s College Football Awards.
Many, including Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline and Harrison himself, felt Harrison was snubbed from winning the Biletnikoff last year, when the award went to Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt. He gave himself another great chance to win it this year by catching 67 passes for 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns in Ohio State’s 12 regular-season games, surpassing his regular-season yardage and touchdown totals from last year.
In the process, Harrison became the first player in Ohio State history to top 1,000 receiving yards in multiple seasons and the first Buckeye to ever have 15 career 100-yard receiving games.
His 1,211 receiving yards this season rank as the fifth-most in a single season by an Ohio State receiver behind only Jaxon Smith-Njigba (1,606), David Boston (1,435), Terry Glenn (1,411) and his own 1,263 receiving yards last year. His 14 receiving touchdowns are tied with his 2022 season and Boston’s 1997 season for the second-most in a single season by a Buckeye behind only Glenn’s 17 in 1995.
Harrison topped 100 receiving yards in eight of Ohio State’s 12 regular-season games and caught at least one touchdown in 10 of them. He is currently on a streak of eight straight games with a touchdown catch.
All of that said, Nabers and Odunze are also strong candidates for the award. Nabers led the FBS during the regular season with 1,546 receiving yards, while Odunze helped lead Washington to an undefeated regular season with 73 catches for 1,326 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Harrison was also a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, which both honor college football’s most outstanding player, but he was not among the finalists named for those awards on Tuesday. A trio of quarterbacks – LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., who are also the top three candidates to win the Heisman Trophy – are the finalists for both of those awards.
Harrison was one of two Buckeyes named a finalist for a national award Tuesday as Cade Stover was named one of three finalists for the John Mackey Award, which honors college football’s top tight end, along with Georgia’s Brock Bowers and Colorado State’s Dallin Holker. The Mackey Award winner will also be announced during ESPN’s College Football Awards show, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Dec. 8.
