Marvin Harrison Jr. toughing out ankle sprain might have made the difference at Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — What made Ohio State losing the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff to Georgia last year so difficult to process for Buckeyes fans was the “what if” of it all.
The fact that if superstar wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. hadn’t been knocked out of the game late in the third quarter, Ohio State probably wouldn’t have let its 14-point lead slip versus the top-ranked and defending national champion Bulldogs and probably would have won the national title the following week against TCU, too.
Harrison once again suffered a third quarter injury in a “matchup game” Saturday night. This time, the 2023 Buckeyes were playing a regular season, top-10 showdown at then-No. 9 Notre Dame.
Harrison sprained his ankle while blocking for TreVeyon Henderson on the running back’s 61-yard, breakaway score that gave Ohio State a 10-0 lead.
Notre Dame safety Ramon Henderson dove to tackle Henderson, couldn’t bring him down and instead slid into Harrison’s right ankle from behind, in effect taking the wideout’s feet out from underneath him.
The excitement of Henderson’s game-changing touchdown was dampened by the sight of Harrison on the turf. He stayed there for a few minutes before being helped off the field.
But he didn’t let a “what if” enter the conversation.
After getting taped up in the medical tent, Harrison returned to action for the Buckeyes’ next offensive series. Often doubled, or sometimes just locked up by Notre Dame standout cornerback Benjamin Morrison, Harrison finished Saturday with only three catches for 32 yards.
His contribution, however, was far greater than his numbers suggest, especially during Ohio State’s game-winning drive.
“In a two-minute situation, if you’re gonna double him, somebody’s in a 1-on-1. And every time we talk about bracket, Kyle what do we say? Find the what?” Day said, turning to quarterback Kyle McCord, who was waiting for his turn at the podium in the crowded Notre Dame road press conference room.
McCord answered: “The 1-on-1.”
Day continued: “That’s it. And so someone’s going to be in a 1-on-1, so they gotta win. Marvin doesn’t get the catch to win the game, although we tried to get it to him right down in the sprint out.
“But his presence made a huge impact on the game.”
Harrison did have a leaping, 19-yard reception on 2nd-and-10 in the middle of Ohio State’s grand finale, a 15-play, 65-yard touchdown drive orchestrated by McCord in just 1:25.
But Harrison just being out there helped the Buckeyes’ offense. He attracted coverage and freed things up for Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming, who converted critical third and fourth downs to keep Ohio State’s hopes alive.
That’s the kind of player Harrison is — the video game-like combination of his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame, his impressive long speed and his sure hands make him maybe the best NFL Draft receiver prospect in more than a decade.
“If he doesn’t come back after he sprained his ankle, maybe he doesn’t draw the attention that opened up Emeka,” Day noted.
It was Egbuka, after all, who caught a 21-yard pass in the soft part of Notre Dame’s quarters coverage on 3rd-and-19 to set up running back Chip Trayanum’s game-clinching touchdown from the 1-yard line.
Remember, Harrison wanted to stay in the Peach Bowl after he got drilled by Georgia safety Javon Bullard in the end zone. Concussion protocol prevented him from doing so.
There was no protocol holding him back Saturday night in South Bend.
Harrison’s ankle sprain occurred less than a week after he confirmed that he dealt with another last season, starting Week 2 at Arkansas State, that limited his cutting, acceleration and deceleration.
That 2022 setback, of course, didn’t stop him from becoming the first wideout to earn unanimous first-team All-American honors in school history with 72 catches, 1,157 receiving yards and 12 receiving scores.
This one was a lot more noticeable — play was stopped while Harrison received attention from trainers — but the junior played through the pain nonetheless, and maybe, in a way, saved the game for the Buckeyes.
“You talk about toughness right there,” Day said, “that was toughness by 18.”
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