Marvin Harrison Jr., Jermaine Mathews Jr. Earn National Awards

The Ohio State football program continues to rack up individual awards for its performance against Penn State on Oct. 21, this time with wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. taking home a pair of national honors on Wednesday. 

Harrison, who was already named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week and Ohio State’s offensive Player of the Game for his game against the Nittany Lions, was named the Maxwell Award Player of the Week, which honors the top performance from a FBS wide receiver each week.

Harrison had arguably his best game of the season against Penn State on Saturday, putting his name in the Heisman Trophy conversation with a career-high 11 receptions for 162 yards and an 18-yard score. He also became the first player in program history to record five games of 160 or more receiving yards, supplanting David Boston’s previous record of four. 

This performance completed a busy three-game stretch where he racked up 423 combined receiving yards, the most by any FBS wide receiver in that span. 

On the defensive side, Mathews Jr. was selected as the College Football Network’s Freshman of The Week for Week 8. The first-year filled in masterfully for the injured Denzel Burke at outside corner against the Nittany Lions, logging a career-high 49 defensive snaps and recording three unassisted tackles and a key pass breakup in the third quarter. 

Mathews Jr.’s efforts helped the Ohio State secondary dominate Penn State quarterback Drew Allar and his passing attack, where they limited the team to just 191 passing yards off of 42 attempts.

“He’s a baller, he’s fearless,” linebacker Cody Simon said. “When I was a freshman, I don’t know if I had the nerves to go out there and make plays like that. It speaks to his courage and his resilience. He’s stepping up and making plays whenever his number is called and that’s all about competitive excellence.”