Football Looks to Outshoot Leopards

The Harvard football team enters this weekend's Lafayette on a high note after a 42-37 win over defending Ivy champion Brown. The Crimson (1-1, 1-0 Ivy) prevailed last week on the strength of sophomore wideout Carl Morris' 220 yards receiving, junior quarterback Neil Rose's 412 yards passing and five second-half touchdowns.

Harvard's offensive performance not only gave it the win against Brown but also catapulted the team in the Division I-AA statistical rankings.

In Division I-AA, the Crimson has the ninth-best passing offense in the nation, averaging 303 yards per game and 16 yards per completion. Rose is the seventh-best passer in the country with a 170.3 quarterback rating, and Morris is the second-best receiver nationwide with 143 yards receiving per game.

Unlike Brown last week, Lafayette comes into this game looking to contain Morris and Rose.

"Lafayette will try to defend the pass." Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. "And we're going to throw the ball."

Harvard will have to throw the ball in order to be successful offensively because injuries have seriously depleted the running back position.

Senior tailback Chuck Nwokocha, the starter coming into the preseason, was injured on the third play of the season opener against Holy Cross.

Sophomore Matt Leiszler and junior Jared Lewis filled in capably for Nwokocha, but both went down against Brown in the second and third quarter, respectively. Another Harvard running back, sophomore Brent Chalmers, suffered a concussion against Holy Cross while playing on special teams.

It fell to fifth-string sophomore tailback Nick Palazzo to carry the ball for Harvard during the crucial fourth quarter drives when the Crimson took the lead over the Bears.

Palazzo will be the starter against Lafayette with junior Dan Miree, a strong safety who hasn't played at the running back position since high school, backing him up.

"We have to try and find a balanced attack. Obviously, any time you are down to your fifth-string in any position, you don't consider it a strength, but Nick Palazzo is a good running back."

Because of all the injuries at running back, Harvard will rely on Rose and his receivers to carry the offense against Lafayette tomorrow.

As it has all season, look for Harvard to spread the field with lots of multiple-receiver and one-back sets. The Crimson will try to find match-ups downfield with its wideouts matched up against safeties or linebackers. Additionally, a spread defense will make it easier for Harvard to gain yards on the ground.

Defensively, Harvard will have to account for Leopard co-captain and senior wide receiver Phil Yarberough. Yarberough had 11 catches for 119 yards and a touchdown against Princeton two weeks ago.

Yarberough may be limited on Saturday because of a thigh bruise. He is listed as probable for the game. Lafayette has another dangerous offensive weapon in freshman quarterback Marko Glavic. Glavic, who is making just his third collegiate start has already thrown for 280 yards and three touchdowns with only one interception.

On the ground, sophomore Bill Stocker has gained 298 yards in three games and has scored two touchdowns.

In total, Lafayette presents a balanced attack on offense. In its two wins against Towson and Princeton, it has gained over 100 yards on the ground and thrown for 188 and 321 yards, respectively.

But in a 45-28 loss to Penn last week, Lafayette could manage only 81 yards rushing and 117 through the air.

"They're a team very much like us, very young," Murphy said. "They have had flashes of brilliance, like the win over Princeton, but they've also been inconsistent. They have made a lot of mistakes."

The Crimson defense played well against Holy Cross but allowed over 500 yards of offense and 37 points to a good Brown team.

The defense has yet to show, however, that it is capable of shutting down an opposing offense.

With Harvard having to replace nine defensive starters from last year, it is not surprising that the defense has given up points.

Against Brown, the defense tackled in the open field very well, something that it will have to replicate against Lafayette.

"The key is we have to go out and execute," Murphy said. "The thing that was different between the first and second halves versus Brown was that we executed in the second half. We didn't execute in the first half or against Holy Cross."

An interesting footnote to this game is that Murphy's first coaching job was in at Lafayette, working for then-Lafayette head Coach Bill Russo, who retired last year.

Though Harvard has played Lafayette a few times--though not since 1996, so no current Harvard player has played Lafayette--those games were in Cambridge so this will be Murphy's first return to Easton, Penn., as head coach of the Crimson.