Fresh Blood

The Harvard football team enters the 2000 season with question marks all over the field.

The Crimson, ranked fifth in the Ivy League preseason poll, graduated a lot of experience last year on defense and at the offensive skill positions.

In total, the Crimson will be starting 16 new players as it attempts to replace the production of its all time leading rusher (Chris Menick '00, 3,330 yards), receiver (Terence Patterson '00, 146 catches), and tackler (Isaiah Kacyvenski '00, 395 tackles).

"If we had to open tomorrow against Holy Cross, 19 of our 24 starting positions would be underclassmen." Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. "We are going to have to get some experience and grow up quickly."

On defense, the Crimson will have to replace nine starters while mustering a more effective pass defense, especially in the fourth quarter.

Harvard either led or was tied in the final quarter of all five games that it lost last year. The Crimson was repeatedly victimized by opposing pass attacks in the final minutes of each of those losses. Its coverage deficiency was most dramatically exploited in The Game when Yale quarterback Joe Walland threw for 437 yards, with the Elis handing the ball off just once in the second half.

Once again this year, every team that it faces will try to test it through the air.

The secondary will rely on junior cornerbacks Willie Alford and Andy Fried to contain opposing wide receivers.

Fried, a wideout last season, was switched to the defensive side of the ball after an ankle injury sidelined junior cornerback Ryan Dickerson during spring practices.

One of the biggest improvements in the secondary could come at free safety, where highly touted sophomore recruit Niall Murphy will replace the graduated Ben Green '00.

"Green was an Academic All-American last year," Coach Murphy said. "And Niall Murphy is bigger, stronger and faster than Green."

But despite the questions that persist about the secondary, it may be the most stable unit for the Crimson this year. At linebacker the Crimson needs to replace all its starters from last year.

A unit that started three seniors, including fourth-round NFL draft pick Kacyvenski, will now start two true freshmen, Dante Balestracci on the weak side and Jeffrey Reiman on the strong side, for the game against Holy Cross because of injuries to the top three upperclassman linebackers. Sophomore John Perry's injury especially hurt since Murphy had rated him the top linebacker coming out of spring camp.

Overall, the Harvard defense has looked fairly solid throughout the preseason, holding Southern Connecticut to six points in a scrimmage.

But the strength of the linebackers is critical as the Crimson defense places a premium on stopping the run and rushing the passer, lining up in a Virginia Tech-style "Attack Eight" front.

Harvard will crowd the line of scrimmage with up to eight defenders by walking senior strong safety Mike Brooks up to stop the run and leave the corners in isolation coverage on opposing wide receivers. This scheme contributed to some of the problems last year defending the pass.

"There were some times last year that teams were able to take advantage of our coverage using four- and five-wide-receiver sets." Alford said. "We plan to combat that this year by bringing in extra defensive backs in place of linebackers [when opposing teams use three- or four-receiver sets] to give us faster, more athletic personnel to cover the wide receivers."

On offense, the strength of the team appears to be the offensive line. A unit that was inexperienced at the start of last season, the offensive line has looked impressive in preseason, opening wide holes for Crimson running backs and protecting the quarterbacks as well.

Though the offensive line will be starting two sophomores, it is a veteran group headed by captain Mike Clare at left tackle.

Harvard was able to pound the ball on the ground last year, gaining over 167 yards per game rushing.

Part of the credit for that success has to go to Menick, but in order to continue with that success without him, the Crimson hired offensive line coach and running game coordinator Jim Turner.

Turner spent 1999 coaching the offensive line at Louisiana Tech, which had the top passing attack in the nation last year, averaging over 402 yards per game.

"The running game should be strong this year," senior tailback Chuck Nwokocha said. "Harvard has always been able to run the ball well since I've been here and I don't see that changing."

Behind the offensive line, though, are some question marks, most notably at quarterback. Junior Neil Rose won the starting quarterback spot during preseason, according to the depth chart, but other quarterbacks have gotten substantial playing time, with the first offense including second-string sophomore Barry Wahlberg, third-string J.C. Harrington and freshman Conor Black.

"Neil's a guy who is in as complete command as it gets for a guy who doesn't have experience." Murphy said. "Barry Wahlberg is probably the best athlete of the three, with the strongest arm. Conor Black had a very distinguished high school career in a passing offense."

Though the injuries make the quarterback situation somewhat murky, the current expectation is that Wahlberg, having recovered from his knee injury, will start the Holy Cross game and that Rose will replace him when his hamstring heals.

"Wahlberg's recovered from his knee injury and should be the starter against Holy Cross," Rose said.

All of the quarterbacks looked good scrimmaging against a Division II Southern Connecticut team that really wasn't in the same class as the Crimson.

Without them having faced serious competition yet, it is hard to tell how the quarterbacks will do this season.

In the backfield, Nwokocha will assume the top position as the Crimson's only experienced runner. The diminutive Nwokocha, 5'6 on his tip-toes, offers a different style of running than the north-south Menick. Whereas Menick ran almost exclusively between the tackles, look for Nwokocha to try and bounce outside as often as possible. Last year, Nwokocha ran for 239 yards on 55 carries--a respectable 4.3 yard-per-carry average--with one touchdown.

But Harvard will try to get Menick's production out of a committee of runners this season. Junior Jared Lewis and sophomores Matt Leiszler, Nick Palazzo and Brent Chalmers will assist Nwokocha on the ground, with Leiszler assuming the primary backup duties.

"Leiszler has been an amazing discovery for us," Murphy said. "He has had two reconstructive knee surgeries, and where many guys would have just hung 'em up, he's come back stronger and faster than ever."

Though the quarterback and running back positions are somewhat unsettled, the receiver spot will be a strength for the Crimson this season.

Whoever lines up behind center will have a trio of effective sophomore wide receivers to throw to. Split end Carl Morris, flanker Sean Meeker and slot receiver Kyle Kremarosa all have good size, speed and hands downfield.

When Harvard lines up on offense, it will utilize a lot of multiple-receiver, one-back sets.

"Offensively, we're going to be a lot more like the '97 team." Murphy said. "It used a three- or four-wide-receiver set because we had that kind of depth at receiver, a good quarterback and a terrific offensive line."

Additionally, all of the Crimson tailbacks are small, quick players, more like scatbacks who will benefit from a spread defense.

The coaching staff may also be influenced by the success that opposing teams had against them using multiple-receiver sets.

Those offenses that spread the field will be toughest for the Crimson to handle this season. Looking at the schedule, Brown, Cornell, Penn and Yale should be Harvard's hardest games.

After opening at home tomorrow against a much-improved Holy Cross squad, the Crimson travels to Providence to take on the maligned Brown Bears.

The recruiting scandal that rocked the Brown Athletic Department didn't really affect the composition of the team and so the defending Ivy co-champions should be a tough Week Two test.

In Brown's only action thus far this season, it tallied 428 yards through the air on its way to a 50-0 win in a preseason scrimmage against Stony Brook.

Brown also returns senior wide receiver Stephen Campbell, who some consider to be the best receiver in all of Division I-AA football.

In Week Four, Harvard hosts a Cornell team that built up a lot of momentum in the 1999 season and is ranked No. 1 in the Ivy League in the preseason poll along with Yale.

"Their quarterback threw for almost 3,000 yards as a sophomore, so that team is going to get better." Murphy said. "They also had last-second victories against Brown and Harvard."

The Big Red offense returns a total of nine starters, including quarterback Ricky Rahne who, in addition to throwing for 3,000 yards last year, set Cornell single-season records in attempts, completions, passing yards, total offensive yards and passing TDs. He threw for more than 200 yards nine times last season.

The Crimson will have to stop Rahne and the Cornell offense in Week Four in order to get a win.

In Week Nine Harvard travels to Pennsylvania to take on the Quakers, ranked third in the Ivy preseason poll.

Junior quarterback Gavin Hoffman, a transfer from Northwestern, captured the Penn single-season passing record last year, throwing for 2,322 yards. Hoffman also established records for completions and pass attempts.

In a difficult loss for the Crimson last November, Hoffman completed a Quaker school-record 29 passes, including a desperation 50-yard Hail Mary pass in the waning seconds to secure the win.

The Quakers also line up the league-leading rusher from last season in junior tailback Kris Ryan. Ryan finished last season with 1,197 yards and 119.7 yards per game.

Finally, there's The Game.

Yale graduated three-year starting quarterback Joe Walland but will start 6'5 junior Peter Lee in his stead. Lee will be throwing to a deep and experienced receiving corps.

This will also be Yale Coach Jack Siedlecki's first team composed entirely of his own recruits.

By then, if the Crimson hasn't answered its preseason questions--at secondary, linebacker, running back and quarterback, expect a lot of gloating Elis in Cambridge.