Tenacious D: Winning Isn't Everything—It's the Only Thing

I’ve come across some impressive statistics in my time covering Harvard football.

I remember when Brad Wilford ’00 quarterbacked the 1999 squad to 640 yards of total offense en route to a record-setting 63-21 win over Dartmouth. I remember when Neil Rose lit up the Brown secondary last year for a school-record 436 passing yards. I remember how Carl Morris first burst into the limelight in that same game, catching 10 of Rose’s passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns.

In addition to the amazing offensive performances I’ve seen over the past two seasons, the defense and special teams also provided many superlative efforts. I remember when Dante Balestracci intercepted two Dartmouth passes and returned them both for touchdowns in a 49-7 thrashing of the Big Green. I remember when Chuck Nwokocha ’01 stunned the Yalies in last year’s Game when he streaked 94 yards to return an Eli kickoff for a touchdown.

Even after three games this season, there has been much material for the highlight reel and frequent fodder for those who fawn on Crimson Sports Sunday.

Last Saturday, for example, junior linebacker John “The Doctor” Perry rumbled 85 yards to score off a recovered fumble. He was joined on the stat sheet by sophomore defensive lineman Brendan McCafferty, who also scooped up a Northeastern fumble and returned it for a score.

But those stunning touchdown returns weren’t the most important statistics from last week’s game. In fact, the most important and telling number of last weekend’s game can’t be measured in yards, turnovers, or time of possession.

It is measured in the only category that counts—wins.

After Saturday’s 35-20 victory, the Crimson is now 3-0 for the first time since the Ivy championship season of 1987, and more importantly, for the first time in the tenure of Harvard Coach Tim Murphy.

One might not think that starting 3-0 is that important, especially given that Murphy’s 1997 squad lost one of its first three games and went on to complete the only undefeated Ivy campaign in school history. Then again, the way in which Harvard has played and won these contests has to be particularly pleasing to Murphy and his coaching staff.

In the last two seasons, the Crimson has repeatedly shown flashes of brilliance tainted by inconsistencies with ball control and lapses of defensive intensity in a game’s waning moments. These fatal flaws have accounted for several blown leads and many losses that should have been wins.

Certainly Murphy was aware of his team’s inability to close out games and win with consistency. He might have even been aware of a more ominous statistic.

Murphy entered the 2001 season with a .471 career winning percentage as Harvard’s head coach. In the 128 years of Crimson football, only two other men have lower winning percentages.

Arthur Valpey, who had a career .294 winning percentage, only coached the Crimson for two years before he was replaced by Lloyd Jordan in 1950. Jordan went on to coach only seven seasons and finished with a .440 winning percentage.

So, simple math tells us that Murphy, who is entering his eighth season as coach, is the longest serving head coach in Harvard history with the worst tack record of winning.

Few have questioned Murphy’s recruiting ability or his overall effectiveness as a mentor of the game. After all, his football program has produced NFL-caliber talent and has repeatedly drawn the attention of national scouts.

But whether or not it’s fair, coaches are ultimately judged by one statistic. As the great Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn’t everything—it’s the only thing.”

So, entering the season, Muphy must have realized that his teams had missed something all along. He always had talent, but an intangible was missing. His teams didn’t have a winning spirit. For some reason, Harvard football had become synonomous with wasted potential. Instead of finding any way to win, it appeared to football followers that the team was finding many ways to lose.

This season, however, the Crimson looks nothing like its predecessors. In three games, Harvard has done enough to win while not letting its mistakes contribute to a loss. How was Murphy able to craft such a stark turn-around?

The answer is simple. He just returned to the basics.

As Murphy commented in the post-game press conference this week, his team isn’t focused on long-term goals or multiple objectives during games. nstead, the Crimson focuses only on the game at hand and only concentrates on two things—ball security and what has become known to us sportswriters as “killer instinct.”

This plan, at first glance, seems silly. I’ll admit to doubting its genius because, as far as I could tell come pre-season, the new Murphy regime had only succeeded in brainwashing the players to recite the words “ball security” and “killer instinct” in every interview they granted.

But now that I’ve seen three games—and more importantly, three wins—I can appreciate the beauty and simplicity of the new plan for the program.

Instead of trying to do too much with the football, like last year when Rose would force some passes to Morris in tight coverage, this year’s squad is content to hold on to the ball—even if it means not using all of the weapons in the arsenal.

For instance, Murphy has gone away from his penchant for running trick plays. Aside from last week’s fake punt in the first quarter, Murphy’s game plan has been as conservative as Harvey “C-minus” Mansfield.

The offense has taken what defenses have allowed, but it has made it’s No. 1 priority to hold on to the ball. This discipline has made Harvard the second-best team in the nation in turnover margin. And as any football savvy person would tell you, turnovers often times decide games.

In addition to ball control and security, the Crimson defense has also stepped up to the challenge. There have been no fourth-quarter collapses like last year, and even given injuries to key players Balestracci and Phil Scherer, the defense has remained solid. Last Saturday was just a sample of that consistency, with the defensive unit picking up the slack left by the offense and scoring two touchdowns of its own.

The next challenge for Harvard will be how it performs on the road. The first three games were at the Stadium, but next week the Crimson travels to Ithaca to take on Cornell. If Harvard can maintain its focus on the simple aspects of the game and not beat itself, then the chances are good that the record will be pushed to 4-0.

And if Harvard can keep its focus on making other teams beat them, then it may turn out that few can rise to that task.

But then again, I’m not necessarily predicting an Ivy championship this year. After all, I made that mistake last year, basing my prediction on how Harvard played even in losing efforts. I guess I just didn’t realize what I know now.

Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.