Key to Columbia Win: Read Between the Lines

Saturday's game was supposed to be a lesson for Columbia's new defense. The Lions spent every practice since the end of last season preparing their new eight man attack front for its test against the Crimson.

Harvard should have been well prepared, as the Crimson perfected that same defensive set on its way to an Ivy League Title last year.

Over the weekend, however, Columbia proved the sole master of that scheme as it dominated the Crimson offensive and defensive lines.

The Lions simply outmuscled the Crimson on their way to a crushing 24-0 victory, pounding Harvard physically in the process.

"We got beat up in the trenches," Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. "Last year this was a strength. They did a better job in that area today."

The basic design of the defense is to put eight guys in the front box in order to out-man the offensive line. The extra defender can either stuff the run or aggressively rush the quarterback.

Columbia executed this perfectly, overwhelming the Harvard blockers and pressuring junior quarterback Rich Linden almost every time he dropped back to pass. The relentless rushers sacked Linden three times on the day.

It is no wonder that Linden only managed to complete ten passes for 60 yards.

"They just brought the heat," a bloodied Linden said. "When I did get protection, I could not hit the open man."

Lions' senior defensive end Rashaan Curry was a particular menace, breezing by right tackle Glen Warner on many plays and disrupting the offense the whole game.

"We obviously struggled in passing situations to take [Curry] off our quarterback," Murphy said.

Likewise, the pressure in the backfield prevented Menick from resuming last year's assault on Harvard's rushing records. Six of his 13 carries went for two yards or less, and he gained a total of 37 yards--a far cry from his 126.7 average of a year ago.

Most Crimson rushes were met in the backfield or at the line of scrimmage.

Clearly, the line missed the talent and leadership of current Minnesota Viking left tackle Matt Birk '98. As the Lion pressure mounted, the line got jittery committing five penalties during the game.

"They dominated us on both sides of the ball," Murphy said. "Everything else just flowed from that."

The Crimson line almost single-handedly stalled one Harvard drive with it porous nature and penalty-prone tendencies.

On first down the aforementioned Curry abused Warner on his way to sacking Linden. Unfortunately for Curry, the Crimson line was whistled for holding and his lone sack was negated in the record books. On the subsequent first-and-twenty play, Linden dropped back and under severe pressure threw the ball across the sideline to avoid another sack. This play too was called back for holding, leaving Harvard facing a daunting first-and-forty.

Needless to say, three plays later Harvard punted.

By design the eight man front is supposed to stuff the run. However, the Lions' tailbacks Norman Hayes and Johnathan Reese had no trouble finding holes as Columbia racked up 196 rushing yards.

Harvard's defense never had the penetration of Columbia, only bringing down Lions quarterback Paris Childress once, while seldom forcing an errant pass.

This combination allowed Columbia to control the ball for most of the game. The Lions doubled the Crimson in time of possession for the first half.

The Crimson was also cursed by sloppy tackling. After bursting through the line of scrimmage, the Lions' backs--especially Reese--were often able to slip through the tackles of Crimson linebackers and cornerbacks.

"They hit the holes really hard," senior linebacker Scott Larkee said. "They made it difficult to get a good handle on them."

This game was supposed to be the triumphal return of senior captain Brendan Bibro. Instead, Bibro joined the front line in time for a thrashing.

"Physically we just controlled things up front," Columbia Head Coach Ray Tellier said. "I can't remember the last time we dominated a team like that."

The road only gets harder from here. Harvard's next opponents, starting with Colgate, will be bigger, stronger, and faster than Columbia. If the Crimson do not get tougher up front in a hurry, the results will be even uglier than last Saturday.

"We step out of the frying fan and into the proverbial fire," Murphy said. "[Colgate] has outstanding players and we better be ready to strap it on."

Hopefully, Harvard will have learned some lessons from Columbia.