Ohio State vs. Maryland Notebook: Marvin Harrison Jr. Shines Despite Injured Ankle, TreVeyon Henderson Expected to Return Against Purdue, Emeka Egbuka’s Injury “Doesn't Seem Like Anything Major”

By Andy Anders and Dan Hope on October 7, 2023 at 9:20 pm
Marvin Harrison Jr.
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Marvin Harrison Jr. did what he often does and sparked Ohio State's offense on Saturday.

Despite playing on an ankle injury he suffered against Notre Dame that is “worse” than the one he played through last year, Harrison came within 22 yards of his career-high for a single game receiving.

"Going into this game I knew it was going to be a little struggle for me moving around, (running) different routes,” Harrison said. “Coach put me in great positions where I didn’t have to use the ankle as much as I really wanted to, so definitely a collective effort there. Shoutout to the trainers, worked a lot with them preparing me for the game, taping the ankle differently, just trying to see what’s more comfortable for me."

Targeted on 15 of Kyle McCord’s 29 throws, Harrison hauled in eight receptions for 163 yards and a touchdown, a score he punctuated with a LeBron James-inspired celebration since Nike gave him LeBron cleats to wear as part of a name, image and likeness deal.

After Ohio State went scoreless on its first five possessions, Harrison made the Buckeyes’ first big offensive play of the daywith a 58-yard reception, which led to a field goal for the home team.

He helped set up Ohio State’s second offensive touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter when he caught a 37-yard pass along the right sideline from McCord.

His touchdown came one drive later. Initially, Harrison caught a 12-yard touchdown pass, but that was nullified by an illegal motion penalty against Xavier Johnson. Harrison made sure that didn’t matter by catching a touchdown pass that counted on the very next play.

“The second half, they took their risk playing one-on-one with me and the rest of the receivers and then we made them pay for it.”– Marvin Harrison Jr.

Harrison’s 163 receiving yards for the game were the third-most of his Ohio State career behind his 10-catch, 185-yard game against Penn State and his seven-catch, 184-yard game against Arkansas State last season. 

Saturday’s game was the 10th 100-yard game of Harrison’s career, tying him with Michael Jenkins and Garrett Wilson for the third-most all-time among Ohio State receivers. He needs just one more 100-yard game to tie Chris Olave for the second-most in school history, but he’ll need four more to catch David Boston’s school record of 14 triple-digit receiving games.

Egbuka’s injury “doesn’t seem like anything major”

For the second game in a row, one of Ohio State’s star receivers had to be helped off the field after suffering a lower-body injury. After Harrison suffered his ankle injury at Notre Dame two weeks ago, it was Emeka Egbuka who got hurt against Maryland.

The injury occurred early in the fourth quarter when Egbuka was tackled low as he was going out of bounds on an 8-yard catch on the opposing team’s sideline. Egbuka initially got up and started walking across the field back to Ohio State’s bench, but he stopped and took a seat on the turf before making it there. After a brief on-field evaluation, Egbuka limped to Ohio State’s medical tent with assistance from members of the Buckeyes’ medical staff.

Though he did not return to the game, Egbuka eventually returned to the sideline and was seen riding a stationary bike near the end of the game, at which point fellow starting receivers Harrison and Julian Fleming were also done for the day. He was seen signing autographs for children on the field after the game, though he was photographed wearing a walking boot on his way out of the locker room.

Ryan Day said in his postgame press conference that Egbuka was still being evaluated at that time, leaving him uncertain about Egbuka’s status for next week and beyond, though Day said he did not believe the injury was severe.

“It doesn't seem like something major, but I don't really have much of an answer for you right now.”– Ryan Day on Emeka Egbuka's status

Egbuka caught three passes for 40 yards before his early exit.

TreVeyon Henderson expected to play next week

In another injury update, while running back TreVeyon Henderson was ruled out for Saturday’s game against Maryland, Ohio State’s coaching staff doesn’t believe he’ll be out long-term.

Henderson actually could have participated Saturday, Day said, but the Buckeyes didn’t want to risk aggravating his undisclosed injury with a long season still ahead. That said, Day expects Henderson to return for next week’s game at Purdue.

“It was one of those things where, the question was, if he played in the game, could he have a setback if something happened in the game? The answer was ‘Yes,’” Day said. “And just based on how everything played out last year, the decision was made to hold him this week to make sure he’s full go next week.”

Henderson played through a broken foot for most of last season, but missed Ohio State’s two biggest games of the year against Michigan and Georgia after the injury became too significant to play through. Henderson’s had a resurgent 2023 as a whole, logging 44 carries for 295 yards (6.7 yards per carry) and five touchdowns, including a 61-yard scoring run in Ohio State’s previous game against Notre Dame.

FOX’s Jenny Taft reported that Henderson suffered an injury in that game, however, and Ohio State decided the smart move was to hold him out against Maryland in hopes of having him healthy for the rest of the year.

“The decision was made to hold him this week to make sure he’s full go next week.”– Ryan Day on TreVeyon Henderson

Ohio State missed Henderson against the Terrapins as it ran for just 62 yards on 33 carries, an average of only 1.9 yards per tote in the Buckeyes’ worst rushing performance of the season to date.

Day contributes to Ohio State’s penalty issues

The Buckeyes were flagged 10 times for 81 yards against Maryland, with Day contributing his own 15-yard setback for sideline interference.

That penalty came on McCord’s 37-yard connection with Harrison on 2nd-and-33. While the infraction didn’t end up costing the Buckeyes, as McCord linked up with Cade Stover for a 44-yard touchdown on the very next play, Day was clearly unhappy about the official’s call, as he was seen still jawing at officials minutes later as the game was in a commercial break.

Nevertheless, Day took responsibility for the penalty after the game and said he’ll serve his penance by running with the team on Sunday. But he wasn’t happy with the number of penalties the team incurred over the course of the game, even if he felt some of them shouldn’t have been called.

"I’m going to have to run with the guys tomorrow for that one. I’ll take that one," Day said. "Look, football is a tough sport. There’s a lot of passion. There’s a lot going on out there. I’m coaching my tail off. I will say this, we can’t have that many penalties. That can’t happen. We can disagree on a few of them, but there’s still too many out there."

A first-quarter holding call against Emeka Egbuka led to an Ohio State three-and-out on its third possession and a pass interference by Denzel Burke gave Maryland a first down in the second quarter. A roughing the passer penalty against Mike Hall as time wound down in the second quarter almost gave Maryland a chip shot field goal, had the Terrapins not completed a 4-yard pass over the middle to have time expire for the first half on the next play.

Ohio State entered Saturday’s contest middle-of-the-pack nationally in penalty discipline, logging the 47th-fewest penalties per game (5.3) and 45th-fewest penalty yards per game (45.3). Both those numbers were easily exceeded against Maryland.

“I’m going to have to run with the guys tomorrow for that one. I’ll take that one.”– Ryan Day on his sideline interference penalty

Botched snap part of punting woes

Ohio State’s first drive of Saturday’s game ended with a turnover on downs that gave Maryland the ball at the Buckeyes’ own 30-yard line when a direct snap from John Ferlmann to Cody Simon out of a punt formation resulted in a 3-yard loss on 4th-and-2. But the Buckeyes weren’t actually trying to execute a trick play.

"The botched snap, that was not supposed to be a fake, that was just a bad snap. It just kind of slipped out of his hands, and it was like one of those things, ‘OK what's going on here?’ But that is the game and you gotta respond."

Ferlmann’s errant snap led to Maryland scoring the first touchdown of the game just four plays later on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Taulia Tagovailoa to Kaden Prather. 

“It was like one of those things, ‘OK what's going on here?’ But that is the game and you gotta respond.”– Ryan Day on Ohio State's botched punt

Overall, it wasn’t a banner day for the punt team as the Buckeyes also failed to recover a muffed punt by Maryland later in the first quarter and gave up a 26-yard return to Jeshaun Jones in the second quarter. 

Chip Trayanum, Gee Scott Jr. start

Both running back Chip Trayanum and tight end Gee Scott Jr. made their first career starts as Buckeyes on Saturday.

Trayanum made one start at running back while at Arizona State in 2021, replacing a then-injured Rachaad White, and filled in similarly for Henderson on Saturday.

Trayanum had a career-high 20 carries but gained only 61 yards, averaging 3.1 yards per carry. He did pick up a 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game in the third quarter, marking the third straight game in which he’s reached the end zone.

He also recorded one catch, though that play resulted in an 18-yard loss as it came on a desperation pitch from McCord as he was about to be sacked.

The Buckeyes opened the game in a two-tight-end set, which gave Scott his first-ever collegiate start. He wasn’t targeted with any passes Saturday but saw action in two-tight-end looks at various points throughout the contest.

RELATED Ohio State Stays Poised, Finds Rhythm in Passing Game in Second Half Against Maryland

50 wins for Day

Day reached a career milestone on Saturday as he earned his 50th win as a head coach, with all 50 of those wins coming with the Buckeyes.

By reaching that milestone in only 56 games, Day became the second-fastest Ohio State coach ever to hit the 50-game mark behind only Urban Meyer, who reached the 50-win mark in just 54 games.

Asked about the achievement in his postgame interview with Taft, Day said that accomplishment belonged to the entire program rather than him alone.

“It just means everybody here, it's the players, it's the coaches; this is a wonderful place, a great place to be. One of my favorite things is getting a win at noon, going home and celebrating with the family, so we're gonna do that today.”– Ryan Day

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