Rose’s Play Makes QB Question A Thorny Issue

PRINCETON, N.J.—With 8:51 left in the second quarter at Princeton Saturday, the Harvard football team’s quarterback controversy took a new twist when senior captain Neil Rose re-emerged as an effective and efficient signal-caller.

Rose, having been promised at least one second-quarter series by the Harvard coaching staff, had a rather uneventful first drive, handing off twice and throwing one complete pass to sophomore Rodney Byrnes before the Crimson punted.

What transpired after Harvard got the ball back the next time, however, was anything but uneventful.

Instead of starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick taking the field—as many thought he would given his solid play over the last few weeks—Rose came back under center. And unlike the Rose of last week against Northeastern, his first game back from injury where he never looked comfortable and was benched early, Rose made plays reminiscent of not only the first two games of the season against Holy Cross and Brown but also 2001.

On a third down at the Princeton 40, Rose tossed a nice floater that found senior wideout Carl Morris right between two defenders for a 24-yard completion. Four plays later, he found junior tight end Matt Fratto for a fingertip catch to get to the two-yard line. That pair of passes set up senior tailback Nick Palazzo’s touchdown run to put Harvard on top, 14-7, and gave the Crimson a lead it would never relinquish.

Rose kept the QB job for the rest of the game with few exceptions. Fitzpatrick entered in the second half for running plays only, and finished the day completing 4-of-5 passes for 26 yards and seven yards rushing. This came only two games removed from a 353-yard passing effort against Cornell, and perhaps spoiled an opportunity to solidify a starting job after almost leading the Crimson to an upset of Northeastern last week.

Harvard coach Tim Murphy was neither ecstatic nor apologetic Saturday about the current quarterback situation, which he still describes as a week-to-week decision.

“Ideally that’s not what I’d want to do,” he said about rotating QBs, “but I’d sure as heck rather have two outstanding quarterbacks than one.”

Both Rose and Fitzpatrick have been outstanding at various points this season, which only makes the picture fuzzier. Each has started three games this season, and both are completing over 60 percent of their passes. They also boast similar efficiency ratings, Rose at 148.53, Fitzpatrick at 143.79.

The similarities in numbers belie obvious differences in playing style. When he’s in, Fitzpatrick also doubles as the Crimson’s running game. He leads the team with 382 yards rushing, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Rose this season has not moved well and has only averaged 2.8 yards per carry the few times he’s run the ball. But he’s been nearly perfect at throwing downfield and managing the offense.

This “Kurt Warner”-style of play is a new one for Rose, who had been an effective runner as well in years past. In 2001, he and Fitzpatrick both averaged 3.7 yards per carry, and Rose also scored five times on the ground.

But injuries that have plagued him since the preseason, including a nagging sciatic back condition and bulging discs that will require post-season surgery, have limited the senior’s ability to create plays off the run.

“I’m feeling better, but I’ve lost some mobility,” Rose said. “I feel like less of an athlete.”

Fitzpatrick also suffers periodically from nerve problems in his throwing arm, so technically neither Harvard quarterback is always completely healthy. But both are also large men who can take hits and have proved resilient.

“The things I love about both kids are, one, they’re very good and two, they’re both selfless kids,” Murphy said.

Neither Rose nor Fitzpatrick have complained publicly about their respective situations and therein lies the rub. Murphy has made it clear that an unsettled quarterback situation is not ideal, but that as long as Harvard is winning and nobody’s unhappy or ineffective, the final four games could continue the trend of a QB controversy.

—Staff writer Rahul Rohatgi can be reached at rohatgi@fas.harvard.edu.