Ohio State Football: Zach Harrison is emerging at the right time
The Oho State football team is finally getting high-level play from a defensive end. Zach Harrison has taken his game to the next level.
The Ohio State football team, who hasn’t had a star defensive end since Chase Young left for the NFL after the 2019 season, is finally getting someone to fill the bill. Zach Harrison is now living up to his five-star recruiting ranking that he had coming out in 2019 from Olentangy Orange High School, outside of Columbus.
A very gifted athlete with long arms and good mobility, Harrison is starting to wreak havoc on opposing offenses, even if his sack total isn’t where it should be. Harrison is only credited with one sack on the year, but his overall play and pressure on quarterbacks are being noticed. Harrison had a great game against Iowa as his presence was felt all afternoon.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles had this to say after Saturday’s win against the Hawkeyes, from Eleven Warriors:
"“From the first time I got to be around Zach, I knew that in my mind, he was an elite player,” Knowles said. “Zach has been performing every week on tape, so it’s good to see him make more plays and get the recognition, but I think he’s elite.”"
Harrison has been dominant at times this season. Causing fumbles, getting tackles for loss, and batting balls down at the line of scrimmage. All this adds up to help make this Buckeye defense one of the best in the country.
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It’s taken four seasons for Harrison to fully develop into what he’s become. And he’s stacking great games together at the right time for the Ohio State football team. If he keeps this level of play up down the stretch against offenses like Penn State and Michigan, Harrison may even wind up developing himself into a first-round NFL draft pick.