The 'V' Spot: Brown Frozen in Morristown

PROVIDENCE--After a lackluster first half, the Harvard football team decided to unveil its new offense--throw the ball to sophomore Carl Morris.

Doesn't matter how--a quick out, a 10-yard slant--just send the ball to his hands.

The Crimson set four school records for offense Saturday, rolling up 35 second-half points to shock Brown, 42-37. Morris caught 10 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Junior quarterback Neil Rose threw for 412 yards and the Crimson altogether racked up 586 yards of total offense.

Get the ball to Morris--it was almost enough to make Harvard Coach Tim Murphy look like an offensive genius.

"Carl Morris and [sophomore wideout] Sean Meeker are as good with the football in their hands as anyone else in the league," Murphy said.

The strategy really came alive in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter with Harvard trailing 30-21. On second down from his own 37, Rose dropped back to pass and scrambled to his right. Right before the Bear defenders would have completely encircled him, Morris managed to shake free of his marker 10 yards downfield. He caught the pass and juked toward the middle of the field, racing into the end zone.

Credit both Morris and Rose for sticking with what appeared to be a broken play. From there, Morris showcased his elusiveness, transforming a mere first down into a touchdown.

Morris was at it again on Harvard's very next offensive play. After a Brown touchback, Morris lined up as the flanker and ran a simple out pattern. He eluded the zone, standing all alone at the 45. Rose hit him in the numbers and it was off to the races.

The touchdown pass was the third longest in school history and Harvard's furthest since Jim Kubacki '77 hit Larry Nonnan back in 1976 against Boston University.

"This was a great day for me," Morris said. "I got a good ball from Rose and some excellent blocking down field."

Both touchdown passes reveal the potential for this offensive philosophy. Neither pass traveled particularly far through the air, but Morris--and the other Crimson receivers--have the ability to gain yards after the catch.

Harvard claimed the lead, not on brilliant, complex drives but on simple routes which Morris took a long, long way.

The Crimson has not had this ability from its wide receivers since it won the Ivy championship back in 1997. Since then, it had to rely on the smashmouth running of Chris Menick '00 to carry the load. Now, without a definite starting back (by the end of the game, Harvard was using its fourth stringer, sophomore Nick Palazzo), the wideouts must be the focal point of the offense.

The game represented a quantum leap in performance for Rose. Earning the start over sophomore Barry Wahlberg after his excellent performance in the final third of the Holy Cross game, Rose showed confidence, poise, and the ability to hit receivers in stride.

Timing is critical to execute the type of offense Harvard proved it was capable of on Saturday. Harvard's second touchdown drive of the second half was launched when Meeker caught a little swing pass on the left side. Meeker took the little dump for 17 yards up the sideline.

Among the pantheon of football plays, the swing pass is one of the more basic, but the key was Meeker did not have to slow down to catch the ball. Rather, his momentum was going forward as he made the catch, so he could easily turn up his jets.

Two plays later from the Brown 32, Rose connected with Morris on a five-yard-out pattern that Morris took an additional six. Again, Rose delivered the ball in a timely and accurate fashion which enabled Morris to nearly get in the red zone.

The ability to make a quick read and accurate throw is not flashy when the ball only travels five yards in the air, but it acts as the catalyst for players like Morris to take those five yards and tack on considerable additional ones.

If you take those yards after the catch and sprinkle in the usual tricks Murphy always calls, a big-play offense emerges. Suddenly the Crimson has the ability to knock off a Brown squad that many thought would win the Ivy League (despite being technically prohibited from the championship due to its recruitment violations).

Harvard had lost six of its last seven meetings against Brown, and the Bears didn't really take the Crimson's offense seriously coming into the game.

"We saw what they could do, looking at the end of their game against Holy Cross," Brown Coach Phil Estes said. "They have some good football players and we made them look like superstars."

The Bears saw Harvard's talent at wide receiver but thought it had more than enough to compensate. Morris on Saturday was simply that damn good. The whole wideout corps made Rose look like a budding star behind the center. Taken together, this offense can only get better, and that should be a breath of fresh air for this program.

Just give Morris the ball.