Before “Maserati Marv” drives off to the NFL, he has some more hardware to pack.
Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is the winner of the 2023 Chicago Tribune Silver Football, voted by the conference’s head coaches as the Big Ten’s best player. The Tribune presents the award in partnership with the Union League Club of Chicago.
Harrison received seven first-place and five second-place votes for 19 points, easily outdistancing Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy (two firsts, three seconds, seven points). Harrison was named on 12 of 13 possible ballots, as coaches cannot vote for their own players.
Illinois defensive tackle Johnny Newton (two), Michigan running back Blake Corum — the 2022 Silver Football winner — Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and Iowa punter Tory Taylor also received first-place votes.
Harrison is the 23rd Buckeye — tops among Big Ten schools — to win the Silver Football in the award’s 99-year history. An Ohio State or Michigan player has won in 12 of the last 15 years.
While Harrison left the door open last week to returning for his senior season, the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison is widely expected to enter the NFL draft, in which he’s projected as a likely top-five pick.
If so, he’ll leave Columbus with an armload of honors, including the 2023 Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best wide receiver, the 2023 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year award and consensus first-team All-America status for two consecutive seasons. Harrison was a finalist last week for the Heisman Trophy, finishing fourth in the voting.
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A junior from Philadelphia, Harrison arrived at Ohio State as a four-star recruit in the 2021 class. After apprenticing behind future first-round NFL draft picks Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba as a freshman, Harrison blossomed in 2022 with 77 catches for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns.
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He followed that up this year with 67 receptions for 1,211 yards and 14 scores, plus one rushing touchdown. With another potential game remaining this season in the Cotton Bowl against Missouri, Harrison has career totals of 155 catches, 2,613 yards (almost 17 per catch) and 32 total touchdowns in 38 games.
In a program noted for producing NFL wide receivers, Harrison is the first Buckeye to post multiple 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
His season highlights included an eight-catch, 163-yard, one-touchdown game against Maryland and 11 receptions for 162 yards and a score in a 20-12 victory over then-No. 7 Penn State. During the latter game Harrison earned the nickname “Maserati Marv” from Fox Sports’ Gus Johnson — a name Harrison professed to like despite many fans’ complaints.
In the Buckeyes’ lone loss to rival Michigan, Harrison had 118 yards on five catches and a fourth-quarter touchdown that cut the Ohio State deficit to three points.
If that was his final college game, he departs as one of the Big Ten’s all-time best.
First-place votes worth two points, second-place votes worth one. Coaches cannot vote for their own players.
- Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State WR: 7-5—19
- J.J. McCarthy, Michigan QB: 2-3—7
- Johnny Newton, Illinois DT: 2-0—4
- Blake Corum, Michigan RB: 1-1—3
- Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland QB: 1-1—3
- Tory Taylor, Iowa P: 1-0—2
- Cooper DeJean, Iowa CB: 0-2—2
- Drew Allar, Penn State QB: 0-1—1
- Olu Fashanu, Penn State OT: 0-1—1
- 1930: Wes Fesler, E
- 1941: Jack Graf, QB/FB
- 1944: Les Horvath, HB
- 1945: Ollie Cline, FB
- 1950: Vic Janowicz, HB
- 1955: Howard Cassady, HB
- 1973: Archie Griffin, RB
- 1974: Archie Griffin, RB
- 1975: Cornelius Greene, QB
- 1981: Art Schlichter, QB
- 1984: Keith Byars, RB
- 1995: Eddie George, RB
- 1996: Orlando Pace, OT
- 1998: Joe Germaine, QB
- 2006: Troy Smith, QB
- 2012: Braxton Miller, QB
- 2013: Braxton Miller, QB
- 2015: Ezekiel Elliott, RB
- 2016: J.T. Barrett, QB
- 2018: Dwayne Haskins, QB
- 2019: Chase Young, DE
- 2020: Justin Fields, QB
- 2023: Marvin Harrison Jr., WR