Skull Session: Marvin Harrison Jr. is Him, Ohio State's Stars Shined Bright Against the Red Wolves and Former Buckeye Receivers Went Off in Their NFL Season Openers

By Chase Brown on September 12, 2022 at 5:00 am
Route Man Marv.
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It's Monday morning and the Cleveland Browns won their first season opener in my lifetime. That means I am a happy man.

However, I might not be as happy as Justin Fields was to slide on water-covered grass at Soldier Field on Sunday.

Let's have a good Monday, shall we?

 ROUTE MAN MARV. Ohio State's blowout win over Arkansas State taught us a few things about the Buckeyes. However, the main lesson learned was that Marvin Harrison Jr. is pretty darnn good at this football thing.

Harrison, also known as Route Man Marv and Super Marv, was fantastic against the Red Wolves, catching seven passes for 184 yards and three scores. Let's relive all three of his touchdowns, courtesy of the Ohio State football team's Twitter:

 HEY! I PLAYED WELL TOO! Harrison wasn't the only Buckeye to perform well against the Red Wolves. Once again, Mike Hall Jr. frequented Arkansas State's backfield, collecting one sack and three tackles for loss. Through two weeks, Hall is tied for the third-most tackles for loss in the FBS, with five.

With their stellar performances, the Eleven Warriors staff named Harrison and Hall the offensive and defensive players of the week for Ohio State's second game.

Although they did not earn our weekly award, C.J. Stroud, TreVeyon Henderson and Emeka Egbuka also made some noise against Arkansas State. Stroud threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns, while Henderson added 87 yards and two scores on only 10 carries. Egbuka continued his hot start to the 2022 season with his first career 100-yard game, recording four catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Ohio State also recognized a few different for their outings on Saturday, naming Steele Chambers as the Buckeyes' defensive player of the week and Palaie Gaoteote as the special teams player of the week.

I'd also like to recognize Jesse Mirco for his consistency during the first two games. He has punted 10 times this season with an average of 44.4 yards, which ranks 28th in the FBS. Of those punts, Mirco has downed six inside the opponent's 20-yard line. The Aussie has undoubtedly made Jim Tressel proud, ensuring that the punt remains the most important play in football.

 DEVELOPED HERE. Earlier I mentioned that Hartline is a talented recruiter and that Buckeye Nation must protect his partnership with Day at all costs. The fate of landing multiple five-star receivers in recruiting classes hangs in the balance.

I'm not sure what the leading factor is in making Hartline one of the best recruiters in the nation. He played at Ohio State, which helps, and he made a lot of money in the NFL, which also helps. Hartline can look a high school football player in the eyes and tell them he's been there, done that.

But I think what could be most appealing to recruits about Ohio State is the amount of wide receiver talent absolutely killing it in the NFL today. The most recent example was on Sunday, when Michael Thomas, Curtis Samuel and Terry McLaurin combined to catch four touchdowns in their respective games.

Samuel started the action with the first touchdown of the Washington Commanders era. It was also the first score for an NFL Buckeye in 2022.

McLaurin capped off the scoring for former Buckeyes when he left the Jaguars' defense in the dust with a 49-yard touchdown from Carson Wentz.

Again, Hartline is a fantastic recruiter and coach. It's obvious that he can pull in some of the most talented high school receivers without much help, but I imagine his job gets easier every time a former Buckeye balls out in the NFL.

Need to land another five-star? Just show them these clips featured above and tell them that they could become the next Thomas, Samuel, McLaurin, Chris Olave or Garrett Wilson in a short time. It can really be that easy.

Now, I'm not sounding the alarm and putting Ohio State on upset watch. I'm not crazy. The Buckeyes have started as 34-point favorites over the Rockets, which sounds reasonable. But if college football has taught us anything, and if it reminded us of anything over the weekend, it's that nobody is safe.

All I'm saying is that It would be best for the Buckeyes to extinguish any hope the visitors from the northwest have quickly and prove that Ohio State isn't a program that pays to be bullied.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "In the Blood" by John Mayer.

 CUT TO THE CHASE. The U.S. counts the millionth organ transplant over the weekend... Remembering 9/11 with photos 21 years later... Seven fun facts about sweat... Swimmer finds wedding ring lost in channel years earlier... This is why NFL teams should draft kickers.

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