Marvin Harrison Jr. is a Heisman Trophy finalist.
The Ohio State wide receiver is one of four finalists for college football’s most prestigious individual award, joining a trio of quarterbacks – LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. – as candidates for this year’s trophy.
Congratulations to the 2023 Heisman Trophy finalists, @LSUfootball QB Jayden Daniels, @OhioStateFB WR Marvin Harrison Jr., @oregonfootball QB Bo Nix and @UW_Football QB Michael Penix Jr. #HeismanTrophy #MoreThanATrophy pic.twitter.com/SZDc8wdfIY
— The Heisman Trophy (@HeismanTrophy) December 4, 2023
Harrison is the first Ohio State wide receiver to be a Heisman finalist. He’s the fifth Buckeye to be a Heisman finalist in the last six years, joining Dwayne Haskins (2018), Justin Fields (2019), Chase Young (2019) and C.J. Stroud (2021, 2022).
Harrison becomes Ohio State’s latest Heisman finalist after a spectacular regular season in which he caught 67 passes for 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns. He became the first receiver in Ohio State history with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and the first Buckeye ever with 15 career 100-yard receiving games. He had eight 100-yard games during the regular season while he scored at least one touchdown in 10 of Ohio State’s 12 regular-season games, including four games with two touchdown catches.
Only four wide receivers have ever won the Heisman Trophy: Nebraska’s Johnny Rodgers (1972), Notre Dame’s Tim Brown (1987), Michigan’s Desmond Howard (1991) and Alabama’s DeVonta Smith (2020). Ohio State players have combined to win seven Heisman Trophies, tied for the most of any school, though no Buckeye has won the award since Troy Smith in 2006.
That drought is not expected to end on Saturday. Daniels, who leads the FBS with a 208.01 passer rating, 11.7 passing yards per attempt and 40 passing touchdowns while also rushing for 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns this season, is the heavy favorite to win the trophy.
Just being invited to the Heisman ceremony as a wide receiver is a substantial accomplishment, though, as only nine other wide receivers have been Heisman finalists since the Heisman Trust began inviting multiple finalists to the ceremony in 1981.
Harrison is considered the favorite to win the Biletnikoff Award, which honors college football’s top pass-catcher and will be awarded during ESPN’s College Football Awards show on Friday night. He was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, becoming just the third wide receiver ever to win that award, and also won Big Ten Receiver of the Year honors for the second year in a row last week.
The Heisman Trophy ceremony will be broadcast live on ESPN beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday.
