Marvin Harrison Jr. scored three touchdowns and Kyle McCord passed for 335 yards and three scores as top-ranked Ohio State routed Michigan State 38–3 in Columbus on Saturday.
Harrison rebounded from a subpar performance against Rutgers (four catches for 25 yards and TDs of 4 and 2 yards) to help the Buckeyes (10–0, 7–0 Big Ten) to a 35–3 halftime lead.
He made seven catches for 149 yards and two TDs against the Spartans (3–7, 1–6 Big Ten) before being pulled after the first series of the third quarter. Harrison also opened the scoring with his first career rushing touchdown of 19 yards.
McCord was 24-of-31 passing. His yardage was a career best, surpassing the 320 against Maryland on Oct. 7, and he tied his best of three TDs, all in the first half. A favored target was Cade Stover, who tied a career high with seven catches for 79 yards and a TD. Stover sat the Rutgers game because of an injury.
Katin Houser was 12 of 24 for 92 yards for the Spartans, who have lost eight straight to the Buckeyes since their last win in 2015.
The Buckeyes scored on five of their six possessions in the first half. After Harrison’s running score, he had a 26-yard TD catch along the right sideline to make it 14-0 and followed with a 9-yard TD on a crossing route on the first play of the second quarter.
Michigan State’s Jonathan Kim made it 21-3 with a 53-yard field goal before TreVeyon Henderson rushed for a 9-yard score and Stover’s 18-yarder made it 35–3 with 15 seconds remaining in the half.
Henderson ran for 63 yards on 13 carries, all in the first half.
Harrison, who had a 57-yard catch in the third quarter, is the first Ohio State receiver to have two 1,000-yard seasons.
