Marvin Harrison Jr. taking ‘villain mentality’ into pivotal road matchup

COLUMBUS — The first question Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. was asked Wednesday night at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center was standard. Shouldn’t have raised any eyebrows or made headlines.

Harrison was asked if this is the type of game that gets the juices flowing. His answer was everything you’d expect it to be.

“This is why you come to Ohio State, to play in this big of a game,” he said. “Primetime game, 7:30 kickoff. Top-10 teams going at it.”

But then he added a layer to it.

“On the road, I like playing on the road. It should be fun.”

Yes, the best wide receiver in college football likes the challenge of going on the road in tough environments and thriving in those situations.

Harrison’s affinity for road games is backed up by his performance in such environments. He has slightly better statistics on the road than in home games. In eight Power Five home games since the start of last season, Harrison averages 90.3 receiving yards per game and has seven touchdowns. In stadiums that aren’t the Horseshoe, all Power Five opponent stadiums or the neutral-site Peach Bowl, he is even better, averaging 93.2 yards per game and hauling in five touchdowns.

But what makes it more impressive is the competition level. It didn’t matter if it was Penn State’s Kalen King and Joey Porter Jr. Harrison torched the Nittany Lions on the road for 185 yards. The vaunted Georgia secondary didn’t stand a chance against Harrison, either. He hd 106 yards and a pair of touchdowns in three quarters of work before being knocked out of that game.

The best cornerbacks on the schedule got Harrison in an advantageous environment. And it didn’t matter.

There’s just something about those road games.

“I like being on the road for some reason. I love Buckeye Nation and playing in front of Buckeye Nation but I just prefer being on the road sometimes.”

This is another big challenge for Ohio State. The Buckeyes will walk into a hostile, historic cathedral of college football at Notre Dame. And the Fighting Irish have a top-tier cornerback in Benjamin Morrison, who was a freshman All-American last season.

It’s one of the biggest matchups of the biggest game. Harrison believes he has the experience to get it done against a good cornerback yet again.

“We’ve kind of been here before,” Harrison said. “Obviously we played Notre Dame last year. I’ve had some big games under my belt at Penn State, Team Up North and Georgia. So I’ve kind of been in that situation before. The Rose Bowl, I had my first start. I was probably more nervous for that game than ever. So I feel confident in myself. I trust the coaches and game plan that we got going in. And you know, it should be fun.”

Harrison has had plenty of fun on the road before. He hasn’t lost a road game, and he helped the Buckeyes nearly pull off an upset in the neutral-site College Football Playoff game at Georgia last year.

Sure, Harrison is the best wide receiver in the country, no matter where he’s playing. He just happens to like being on the road a little bit more than playing in front of the home crowd inside the Horseshoe.

That gives Marvin Harrison Jr. plenty to like about his chances at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday night.

“I just kind of like the villain mentality you have going on the road,” he said. “I just really enjoy it.”

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