Unspecial Teams

NEW YORK--It has almost become expected that in the first week of the football season at every level, special teams plays a larger than usual role in determining a game's outcome.

In the first weekend of the NFL season, a sorry New York Giants team almost defeated a championship caliber Buffalo Bills squad on the strength of an 87-yard punt return touchdown by rookie Amani Toomer. And in Dallas, the Cowboys lost of to the Colts, 25-24, because of two missed field goals in the fourth quarter.

Such was the case Saturday at Lawrence A. Wein Stadium.

Although Harvard dominated Columbia statistically, racking up 312 yards of offense compared to a paltry 186 yards for the Lions, Columbia's special teams executed while Harvard's floundered.

With less than two minutes remaining in the game, the Harvard offense had a third-and-goal situation from the Columbia one yard line, but a delay of game penalty and an incomplete pass forced the Crimson to settle for a chip-shot field goal attempt.

A high snap from freshman deep-snapper Frank Volpe allowed 6'5" Columbia defensive end Marcellus Wiley to block the kick. But the Crimson special teams still had a chance to score. The Columbia player who recovered the block--junior defensive back Roy Hanks--took the ball on the five yard line and ran back into the endzone, trying to gain yardage by reversing his field. Several would-be Harvard tacklers had the opportunity to tackle Hanks for a safety, but each came up empty-handed as Hanks advanced the ball to the Columbia 27-yard line.

"You want to [kick the field goal] in 1.3 seconds or less and with the high snap I'm guessing it was closer to 1.5," Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. "If it gets over 1.3 seconds it has a pretty good chance of being blocked. It really came down to one special teams miscue."

Well, not exactly.

Murphy employed junior quarter-back Jay Snowden as the punter Saturday, who experienced some difficulty in his debut.

In the first quarter, Snowden had one punt--which appeared to be partially blocked--travel only 13 yards. And in the second quarter, Snowden downed his own punt, which went straight up into the air and bounced backward for a loss of three yards.

Although the punting was better for the majority of the game, Snowden does not appear to be the man to replace Tim Griffin '96; and maybe he shouldn't be--after all, he is the starting quarterback.

Harvard's kick coverage and return game were adequate, although junior punt returner Colby Skelton was fortunate enough to recover both of his second-half fumbles.

Columbia's special teams, on the other hand, were superb.

Led by sophomore kicker/punter Matt Linit, the Lions kept the Crimson pinned deep in its own in the first half and capitalized on Harvard turnovers in the second.

Linit dominated the field position battle, averaging 37.5 yards per punt compared to 27.3 yards per punt for Snowden.

More significantly, Linit converted a difficult, 48-yard field goal into the wind to gain a 13-13 tie. Earlier in the quarter, Linit nailed a 22-yarder, capping a 12-play, 62-yard drive.

While Harvard sophomore Ryan Korinke certainly performed well, hitting a 23-yard field goal and a 38-yard field goal in the first half, Linit's kicks were made under far more pressure and essentially gave the Lions an opportunity to win--an opportunity which the Crimson special teams failed to take advantage of.