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As Marvin Harrison Jr. bolstered his case for the Heisman Trophy, No. 3 Ohio State started looking like a team that is peaking at the right time.

Harrison caught two of Kyle McCord’s three touchdown passes and rushed for another score in an electric performance, helping the Buckeyes pound Michigan State 38-3 on Saturday night.

"I can't really quantify how impactful he is to this offense," McCord said, noting that Harrison is often double-covered and gets open anyway, or draws so much attention that other receivers can get open.

“I'm spoiled,” said McCord, who threw for a career-high 335 yards. “There's no other way to put it.”

The Buckeyes (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten, No. 1 CFP) overwhelmed the Spartans (3-7, 1-6) with touchdowns on five of their six first-half possessions.

Ohio State's defense, missing several key players due to injuries, held Michigan State to 182 total yards and two third-down conversions on 14 attempts.

Ohio State hosts Minnesota next weekend ahead of the Nov. 25 showdown with No. 2 Michigan, now embroiled in a sign-stealing scandal that led to a suspension for coach Jim Harbaugh. The Wolverines beat No. 9 Penn State 24-15 on Saturday.

“I think this is what I’ve kind of been talking about all year,” McCord said. “You know, we’re just continuing to improve and grow each week and now that we’re in November, I think we have to play our best football now. And I think the urgency has been passed on from the coaches to the players. And I think as an offense, we knew that this had to be a good week for us.”

McCord completed 24 of 31 passes before being relieved in the fourth quarter. Harrison finished with seven receptions for 149 yards, and tight end Cade Stover tied a career high with seven catches for 79 yards.

Harrison sparked Ohio State's impressive start. In motion from the left side, he took a pitch and went 19 yards around the right end for the first rushing touchdown of his career.

After a missed field-goal attempt by the Spartans, Harrison got back to what he does best, catching a 26-yard pass that McCord dropped over his shoulder in the back corner of the end zone.

“Marv is a special player, and we’re always going to find ways to get him the ball," coach Ryan Day said. “Not that it’s always easy. There’s was a lot of double coverage out there tonight, and he still found a way to make plays.”

Harrison caught a 9-yard TD pass early in the second quarter. TreVeyon Henderson ran one in from 9 yards out, and Stover turned around in the end zone to grab a pass for an 18-yard touchdown and a 35-3 Ohio State lead at the break.

“They're good,” Michigan State interim coach Harlon Barnett said. “It'll be interesting to see how this thing all works out when it's all said and done as far as the playoffs and all that kind of stuff, but they're a good team.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Michigan State: After getting their first Big Ten win of the season last week, the Spartans ran into Ohio State playing at its best and couldn't match up.

Ohio State: The Buckeyes are rolling toward another high-stakes game with Michigan if they don't overlook Minnesota next week.

BEAT-UP DEFENSE

The Buckeyes were without their best defensive player, linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, as well as starting safeties Lathan Ransom and Josh Proctor. Eichenberg, the team’s leading tackler, and Proctor got hurt in last week’s win over Rutgers. Ransom and Burke were injured in the Oct. 28 Wisconsin game. Eichenberg and Proctor are “week to week,” but Ransom “is a little more long term,” according to Day.

MORE MARV

Harrison became the first receiver in Ohio State history with 1,000 yards receiving in two seasons. He had 1,263 in 2022 and has 1,063 so far this season.

He said he was “blessed and thankful to be in the (Heisman) conversation,” but getting to New York is not one of his immediate goals.

“So whatever happens in December happens in December,” he said. “Right now, I'm focused on the corrections being made (after) this game and moving on to Minnesota.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

With a dominating win over a bottom-tier Big Ten team, Ohio State shouldn't move, if at all.

UP NEXT

Ohio State: Hosts Minnesota next Saturday.

 It's official, the Michigan Wolverines will return to the Rose Bowl wearing their traditional blue jerseys. Earlier today, the Rose Bowl announced that the No. 1 ranked Wolverines will be wearing their blue jerseys, while the No. 4 ranked Crimson Tide will be in their away whites. 

 Michigan (13-0) will make its 21st appearance in the Rose Bowl, more than any other Big Ten program. The Wolverines enter the Semifinal matchup with Alabama ranked No. 1 in the polls first time since 1997, when Michigan claimed its last national championship with a Rose Bowl victory over Washington State 

CHICAGO -- — Caleb Foster looked more like a player who had been there and done that than a freshman in his third game.

Foster made one big basket after another, scoring 18 points to help propel No. 9 Duke to a 74-65 win over No. 18 Michigan State in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night. And he did it after not attempting a shot in the Blue Devils' previous game.

Kyle Filipowski scored 15 points for the Blue Devils (2-1), who withstood several pushes by the Spartans (1-2) after grabbing an 11-point halftime lead in the first game of a powerhouse doubleheader. Hunter Dickinson and top-ranked Kansas met No. 17 Kentucky in the nightcap.

Foster scored all but two of his points in the second half, including back-to-back 3-pointers to expand Duke's lead to 68-56 with just under two minutes remaining. He was 7 of 8 from the field and 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.

There have been plenty of highs and lows already for Foster, who scored 15 points in a season-opening win over Dartmouth but was scoreless in 13 minutes in a home loss last week to then-No. 12 Arizona.

“My mindset was just to be ready when coach called my name,” Foster said. "Before the game, my teammates and my coaches were just telling me to be ready. I feel like I work hard for this moment, it’s a moment I’ve dreamed of, and so, yeah, just coming in and be ready."

Fair to say, he impressed coach Jon Scheyer.

“Every high school player in the country should follow what he’s done the last two games because it’s what it’s all about, the attitude, the mindset, the work, he’s crushed it,” Scheyer said.

Filipowski, who scored 25 points in each of Duke's first two games, had 10 points in the second half. The preseason All-American grabbed eight rebounds.

Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor each scored 13 points as Scheyer got a win in front of his hometown crowd. He starred at Glenbrook North High School — about 25 miles from the United Center in Northbrook, Illinois — before becoming an All-American player and longtime assistant for Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski.

Tyson Walker led Michigan State with 22 points and Malik Hall scored 18. The Spartans shot 6 of 19 on 3-pointers after going 2 for 31 during their first two games, a season-opening loss to James Madison and a blowout win over Southern Indiana.

BE-DEVIL-ED

Michigan State fell to 4-15 all-time against Duke — 3-14 under coach Tom Izzo.

“I think we got a damn good team,” Izzo said. “I really do. We haven’t played very good. We haven’t played very good. We’re going to play good. But why am I 3-14? I would like to know what their record is against a bunch of other people. They’re good, you know, give ’em credit, they’re good. Give me blame, because I’ve had different players and still lost so it’s got to be the coach.”

The Spartans had a sizable contingent of fans that included Magic Johnson roaring early in the second quarter when they went on a 9-2 run to pull within four, capped by a put-back by Jaden Akins to make it 35-31.

Duke answered with a 12-2 run to bump the lead to 47-35. But Michigan State kept it close and got within 51-48 on a 3 by Tyson Walker.

BIG PICTURE

Michigan State: Let the panic begin in East Lansing with the Spartans below .500 after opening the season ranked fourth in the AP Top 25. Actually, they showed some resolve in the second half. But the 3-point shooting remains an issue.

Duke: The Blue Devils got the win they needed after the loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

UP NEXT

Michigan State: Hosts Butler on Friday.

Duke: Hosts Bucknell on Friday.

  They saved the best for last in Tuesday night's doubleheader of the Champions Classic, as No. 1 Kansas and No. 17 Kentucky provided a thriller full of back and forths that ended with the top-ranked Jayhawks emerging victorious 89-84 in Chicago.Kansas took the game by storm in the opening few minutes in charging out to a 9-0 lead, but that was as big a lead as it got the rest of the night. Kentucky punched back by not only showing resolve, but responding with a resounding run of its own, finishing the first half with a 48-41 lead behind Rob Dillingham's 16 first-half points.Kentucky continued its run into the second half and grew its lead to as many as 14, but Kansas had the last wind to finish the heavyweight fight as big man Hunter Dickinson took over down the stretch. Dickinson, who finished with 27 points and 21 rebounds, recorded 14 points, 11 boards and three steals in the final 20 minutes of action, overwhelming UK with his size and tenacity and taking advantage of the Wildcats' lack of size (at least for now) in the frontcourt. There are no moral victories at a place like Kentucky -- because, well, it's Kentucky -- but losing to the preseason No. 1 team by five points in a game in which it did not have multiple key pieces in its frontcourt is at least a fine consolation for a tough loss. UK freshmen Justin Edwards and DJ Wagner both struggled, going 1 of 18 combined shooting from the floor, but fellow freshmen Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham combined for 31 points and looked the part as impactful pieces that could force their way into major rotation assets for a young Wildcats team.

• Hunter Dickinson became the first player to have at least 20 points and 20 rebounds vs. Kentucky over the last 25 years, per ESPN. He also is the first player in Champions Classic history to have a 20-20 game. 
• Five-star recruits for Kentucky combined for five points in the losing effort. Four-star recruits for Kentucky accounted for 47 points. Antonio Reeves, who was not ranked as a recruit coming out of high school before signing with Illinois State and eventually transferring to Kentucky, had a team-high 24 points.
• Kansas' Kevin McCullar Jr. became the third Jayhawk in program history to record a triple-double, finishing with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists (with his 10th rebound coming in the final second of the game). The first KU player to record a triple-double was Cole Aldrich in 2009, and the most recent KU player was Jeff Withey 11 years ago in 2012.