Two of Ohio State’s most productive players received some national recognition for their stellar performances so far this season on Monday when wide receiver Marvin Harrison was named one of 17 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award, which honors college football’s most outstanding player, and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg was selected as one of 20 candidates for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which recognizes the sports’ best defensive player. Both players were selected as semifinalists for the respective awards for the second straight season.
Harrison is viewed by many as among the favorites to win the Maxwell Award after once again cementing himself as one of the premier pass-catchers in all of college football. Through ten games, the junior has totaled 59 receptions for 1,063 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns, which ranks 27th, seventh and second in the nation, respectively.
Harrison has also received some late-season Heisman Trophy consideration after a string of dominant games this fall. Since the Buckeyes off week on Sept. 30, he has racked up at least 100 yards receiving and a touchdown in five of his last six games, a stretch that was headlined by his impressive outing against Michigan State where he scored three touchdowns in the team’s first three drives and finished with 149 receiving yards.
Harrison joins a distinguished group of 17 players that includes quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (LSU), Michael Penix Jr. (Washington), Jalen Milroe (Alabama), Bo Nix (Oregon) and Caleb Williams (USC), running backs Blake Corum (Michigan) and Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State) and fellow pass-catchers Brock Bowers (Georgia), Luther Burden III (Missouri) and Malik Nabers (LSU), among others.
Eichenberg is featured as a Chuck Bednarik Award semifinalist for the second consecutive season after once again establishing himself as one of the most productive and valuable linebackers in the nation. Emerging as the unquestioned leader of a vaunted Buckeyes’ defense that entered Week 12 ranked second in the nation in scoring defense at 9.9 points per game, he has racked up some impressive personal statistics. Despite missing the Michigan State game, Eichenberg still leads the team and ranks eighth in the Big Ten with 75 total tackles (38 total, 37 assisted), while also tacking on a sack, a forced fumble and four quarterback hurries.
The fifth-year senior joins a list of 20 defenders that includes fellow linebackers Edgerrin Cooper (Texas A&M), Jason Henderson (Old Dominion), Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (Clemson), Dallas Turner (Alabama) and Payton Wilson (NC State), defensive linemen Howard Cross III (Notre Dame), Kris Jenkins (Michigan), Jer’Zhan Newton (Illinois) and T’Vandre Sweat (Texas) and defensive backs Beanie Bishop Jr. (West Virginia), Cooper DeJean (Iowa) and Malaki Starks (Georgia), among others.
Three finalists will be named for both the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards on Nov. 28, with the winners of both awards set to be announced during ESPN’s Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 8.
