Column: Is there any chance at all Marvin Harrison Jr. stays for one more year?

Saturday’s loss was heartbreaking; I think we’ve established that. A third-straight year of losing to TTUN, no conference championship and likely no College Football Playoff for the Buckeyes. One of the most depressing parts of this loss is how none of the three Buckeye teams that Marvin Harrison Jr. played on accomplished their goals. Now, will he leave Ohio State being unfulfilled?

Time and time again, when awards and accolades are brought up to Marv, he repeatedly says how he doesn’t care about the Heisman or the Biletnikoff, or whatever it may be. His two main goals at Ohio State were to beat TTUN and to play in a Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis — the same stadium where his father played in the NFL.

His freshman year, in 2021, he sat behind Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, so he didn’t play. But these past two years, he has done absolutely everything he can in order to help his team win the big games. Against Penn State last year, he had 185 receiving yards. And TTUN? 120 receiving yards and a touchdown. Georgia in the playoff semifinal? 106 yards and a TD before he got injured.

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And we all know how he did this year. A Heisman-worthy season. Only four games where he didn’t reach the 100-yard mark. 162 yards against Penn State and 118 versus TTUN this past Saturday. Marv has been the backbone of this offense for the past two years. Especially this year, with a new quarterback and an inconsistent run game.

He has achieved numerous individual accolades and set a ton of records in the program. He has perfectly set himself up to be a top pick in the NFL Draft, perhaps the No. 1 overall pick. But, he has hasn’t met all of his goals as Buckeye. Will he decide to go pro anyways, wondering what could have been if he stayed for one more year, or will he come back, trying for one more shot at achieving those goals?

I feel like it’s almost impossible to come back, knowing that you have millions of dollars waiting for you — possibly even as the top pick in the draft — without having to play any more college games. He’s done the work, now he can wait and reap the rewards.

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On the other hand, Marv is a team guy. He absolutely loves being a Buckeye. When you consider the teams that he has been on, they’ve all been failures when it comes to Ohio State’s standards. No rivalry wins. No Big Ten Championships. No National Championships. Could this push him enough to try again for one more year?

Personally, I don’t think so. Right now, it’s looking like it’s going to be a very new team next year, with a lot of guys going pro following this season. Who knows what’s going to happen at the QB position. Even if Marv did come back, would the team be good enough to accomplish his goals? I’m sure they would be contenders, as they are every year, but you never know with a new group.

After the loss Saturday, Marv wouldn’t say whether or not he was going pro, which is obviously to be expected. It’s unlikely he will play in whatever bowl game the Bucks end up in, just like Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson chose not to play in the Rose Bowl against Utah because they were going pro.

Was Saturday the last time we saw Marv in a Buckeye uniform? Unfortunately, I think so. He deserves absolutely nothing but the best in the pros, but selfishly we would all love to see him play another year at Ohio State. So now, we wait and see.