A Breakthrough Day for Harvard's Receivers

The Harvard football team's 63-21 win over Dartmouth Saturday had no shortage of achievements by Crimson veterans.

Seniors Chris Menick, Terrence Patterson, and Brad Wilford each set records at their positions of tailback, wideout, and quarterback, respectively. The defense, with eight senior starters held the Big Green without a first down for most of the second half.

But for those thinking of the future of the team, the most encouraging performance was that of the young Crimson receivers: sophomore flanker Andy Fried (4-for-76, 2 TD), freshman split end Carl Morris (5-for-112), and freshman flanker Kyle Cremarosa (4-for-64).

After the game, the records set by Menick and Patterson left Harvard Coach Tim Murphy wondering about the future.

"You look at two guys that have been doing a lot of good things for a long time. Those records are a reflection of that," Murphy said. "The only bad thing is what do we next year without them?"

But Fried, Morris, and Cremarosa showed yesterday that the future looks bright for the Harvard passing game.

Murphy aimed to get the most out of throwing the ball this week.

"I challenged the quarterback and the receivers last week," Murphy said. "I said for us to reach our full potential as an offense, we have to step it up and play at a level above were we had been playing."

And the Harvard offensive attack was more than up to the challenge.

Already down 7-0 going to the first drive, it was the Wilford-Fried connection that stuck a fork into the initial Big Green momentum.

On Harvard's first play, Wilford faked a handoff, and waited for his receivers to get open. With the offensive line giving him all the time in the world, he found Fried open 20 yards downfield.

Then on the following play, it was Wilford to Fried again, giving the Crimson a first down on the Dartmouth 31-yard line. Six Menick rushes later, Harvard was in for the game-tying touchdown.

Murphy called this drive Harvard's best execution of the season.

"I really feel like we have got some good athletes there," said Murphy of his receivers. "I was very pleased in particular with the way those guys responded to the challenge."

On Harvard's second drive, after two Menick rushes set up Harvard inside the Dartmouth 20, it was Fried again, as Wilford found him by the sideline, two yards out of the end zone, and Fried crossed the plane to give Harvard the lead.

"Andy Fried today had a breakout game for us," Patterson said.

After managing no more than 21 yards receiving in any of his first six games, Fried already had racked up 63 yards in the first quarter.

He added a touchdown catch in the second quarter, which gave the Crimson a 28-14 lead at the time.

For all his brilliance, it was the 50-yard reception of Morris, immediately following a Dartmouth turnover, that really broke the game open for the Crimson.

Morris, who had been relatively silent since his 4 reception, 89-yard performance against Columbia on opening week, made the most spectacular play of the game.

"It was a fake option play," Morris said. "[Dartmouth] had double coverage on me. They had chosen a good defense to cover that play."

Wilford, narrowly avoiding a sack, heaved the ball downfield in Morris's direction. Somehow, Morris managed to outrun the double coverage and catch the pass, before being taken down at the 3-yard line.

"It was a great pass by Wilford," Morris said. "And I was just barely able to get to it."

Wilford gave most of the credit for his record to catches like the one made by Morris.

"Really, I was just throwing the ball up, and our receivers were making ridiculous catches," Wilford said. "I didn't really have to aim it. I was just heaving it up and they were just going to get it all the time. I was impressed."

Morris also came up big on the final drive of the first half. Wilford hit him three times in all on that drive, including a conversion on 4th-and-10. The play set up a back-breaking Harvard touchdown right before the end of the half.

Wilford also managed to find room for Cremarosa in Harvard's passing attack. Cremarosa, whose previous best game had been his 3 reception, 60-yard performance against Fordham, was up to the task.

A holding penalty put the Crimson at 2nd-and-21 during the second quarter. Wilford found Cremarosa open on the far sideline sandwiched in between two Dartmouth players, for 17 yards.

Cremarosa ran virtually the same route on the next play, with similar results, bringing the ball to midfield.

Though a Harvard turnover killed that possession, Cremarosa later made huge catch on 3rd-and-8 that led to Harvard's seventh touchdown.

Despite Patterson breaking the all- time receiving record of former teammate Colby Skelton'98, the day belonged to his younger mates.

"Before today we were questioning ourselves as to whether we could pass the ball or not," Wilford said. "But I think [today] is a real good confidence builder going into the home stretch of the season."

In only the first half, the three young Harvard receivers combined for 11 catches and 225 yards, almost doubling their previous best for a game.

Patterson, however, only had one catch for 20 yards.

But in the third quarter, the roles were reversed. Dartmouth, now realizing the threat of leaving Morris and Fried wide open, managed to hold the two without a catch, but things opened for Patterson, who tallied six receptions in the quarter to break the career record.

Upon breaking the record, Patterson reflected upon the influence of Skelton, his mentor.

"[The record] means a lot to me, primarily because when I came here, I wasn't a wide receiver. Colby Skelton taught me the position," Patterson said. "So for me, this record is really close to my heart. He taught me everything I know. He's still my role model. I'm still searching to play at his level."

Patterson has had a similar influence on the current crop of young receivers.

"[Terence] has helped me to understand the offense and in running the plays," Morris said. "He's a great player."

Patterson has the utmost confidence that someday they will break his new record.

"You know, they probably will," Patterson said. "But my theory is that they'll all cancel each other out. But records were made to be broken."

Though the records broken Saturday caused Murphy to wonder who would replace his seniors next year, it seems they will have a lasting influence long past graduation.