The Battlefield

As a preview to what you will see on Saturday, here are position-by-position breakdowns for Harvard and Yale. The Game should be close, but on paper Harvard comes out on top.

Quarterback

Captain Neil Rose and sophomore Ryan Fitzpatrick should both see action in Harvard’s finale against Yale. Rose and “Fitzy” are two of the best signal-callers in the league. Senior wide receiver and Offensive Player of the Year Award candidate Carl Morris can make any quarterback look great, of course. The Bulldogs’ sophomore quarterback Jeff Mroz has developed into a solid starter since taking over for the injured Alvin Cowan during Yale’s second game of the season. Mroz has completed just under 60 percent of his passes and has thrown for 13 touchdowns with just five interceptions, but Rose—when he’s on his game—is the best in the Ivies.

Want evidence? Just look at his 443-yard, three-touchdown and zero-interception effort in Harvard’s 31-26 victory at Dartmouth on Nov. 2. Not only does the fifth-year senior hold nearly every passing record in Harvard history, but coming off his worst game in two years against Penn, Rose should be pumped up as he finishes his career in front of the home crowd. Rose has completed a gaudy 67.8 percent of his passes and has thrown eight touchdown passes. Fitzpatrick has also thrown eight TDs and has zero interceptions. Additionally, Fitzpatrick is the team’s leading rusher despite having only started three of Harvard’s nine games this season.

“I think we have two of the best quarterbacks in the league, bar none,” Morris says. “It really doesn’t matter who’s leading the team for us because we know we’re in good hands either way.”

Edge: Harvard

Running Backs

While Harvard has the clear edge throwing the ball, Yale gets the nod on the ground. Bulldogs’ tailback Robert Carr is tops in the Ivy League in rushing yards, touchdowns and yards-per-carry among starters. Carr has over 1,000 yards rushing for the season and nine rushing touchdowns. Yale has run for a combined total of 1,830 yards on the year—600 more rushing yards than the team has allowed. Freshman running back David Knox has emerged of late to take pressure off of Carr.

“They have the league’s top rusher in Robert Carr and [Knox] looks really impressive,” Harvard sophomore linebacker Brian Niemczak says. “As a defense we need to forget last weekend, refocus on the game this week and find a way to stop all of Yale’s offensive weapons.” Harvard’s rushing attack is led by senior Nick Palazzo, who averages 4.2 yards per carry. Though Rose calls Palazzo “one of the most inspirational guys on the team,” the tailback has been hampered by a shoulder injury throughout the second half of the season. Sophomore Rodney Byrnes was effective at the tailback position midway through the season but has seen his carries diminish in recent games. Freshman Ryan Tyler looked great against Columbia, rushing for 120 yards in his first varsity start, but he saw only limited action against Penn after hurting his finger.

Edge: Yale

Receivers

Harvard has Carl Morris. And thus this debate over which team has the edge has ended. The Crimson’s superstar future-NFL wide receiver holds nearly every Crimson single-season, single-game and career receiving record in Harvard history. He is unstoppable in man-to-man coverage and must be double- or triple-teamed at all times. This allows junior wideout Kyle Cremerosa and sophomores James Harvey and Byrnes to take advantage of one-on-one coverage. Byrnes is very shifty with the ball in his hands and has shown flashes of brilliance throughout the year. “I feel that we have one of the best groups of receivers in the league,” Morris says.

Though Penn found a way to contain Morris, holding him to only three catches for 16 yards, Yale does not have Penn’s dynamic defensive personnel. The Elis feature sophomore Ralph Plumb, juniors Nate Lawrie and Ron Benigno. The trio has combined for 12 of Yale’s 16 receiving touchdowns and nearly 80 percent of Yale’s passing yards. However, none are Morris, or even Billy Brown, Yale’s Second Team All-Ivy selection from last season. And remember, in last year’s Harvard-Yale game, junior tight end Matt Fratto caught two touchdowns for the Crimson. Harvard just has too many options for Yale.

Edge: Harvard

Offensive Line

Lehigh coach Pete Lembo said after Harvard’s heartbreaking 36-35 loss to the Mountain Hawks that the Harvard offensive line was the “nastiest bunch of guys” he had seen in a long time. The crew is led by senior right tackle Jamil Soriano, a 300-pound stud who might join Morris in this year’s NFL draft class. Senior Nate Torinus has filled in admirably for sophomore center Andy Smith, who tore his ACL midway through the season. The line’s third senior, Jack Fadule, is an All-Ivy First Team candidate. Juniors James Bakken and Joe Traverso have been starters almost all season as the Crimson boasts one of the top lines in the league.

“We’ve really jelled,” Soriano says. “We’ve played real well and we’re ready to go.” Harvard has allowed a league-low 12 sacks, and its rushing attack is second in the league, averaging over 168 yards on the ground per game. Overall, Harvard averages more yards of total offense than any other Ivy League squad.

Yale’s offensive line anchors the league’s top rushing attack and has allowed only 15 sacks this season, third lowest in the Ivy League. Four of Yale’s five starters started in last year’s Harvard-Yale game, including center David Farrell, who earned an All-Ivy Honorable Mention last season. The Bulldogs are good here, but Harvard’s better.

Edge: Harvard

Defensive Line

The Harvard defensive line has made huge strides in the past four weeks to become a dominating unit. Against Columbia, the D-Line was credited with three sacks, two forced fumbles and countless hurries. Senior defensive end Mike Armstrong is All-Ivy material and leads the line with 31 tackles. Junior Brendan McCafferty has three sacks in his last four games with a forced fumble. Junior Brian Garcia had a safety at Penn, the first from a Harvard player since 1997, while seniors Patrick Lavin and Jesse Brush are solid run-stoppers. Harvard has had great success stopping the run against Ivy opponents all year, including Penn, which rushed for only seven yards on 13 carries in the first half last week. All this from a unit that did not have one returning starter from last year’s squad.

The Yale defensive line has also come on strong recently. The Elis gave up only three points to Princeton last week, holding the Tigers to 66 yards rushing on 25 total carries. Senior defensive end Harry Flaster had 2.5 sacks in the game, adding to his league leading total of 9.5. Fellow senior defensive end Stewart Satullo had one against Princeton and has seven for the year, while classmates Jason Lange, a Second Team All-Ivy winner last year, and Mark Patterson each have five.

A key question will be if Harvard’s offensive tackles can stop Flaster and Satullo from getting pressure on Rose. If Rose has time to throw, he is usually deadly. If he is pressured, he can be beat.

Edge: Yale

Linebackers

Junior Dante Balestracci is the best defensive player in the Ivy League. He is the heart and soul of the Harvard defense and potential Defensive Player of the Year in the Ivy League. He leads the team in tackles with 84 and is tops on the roster with four sacks. Senior John Perry is next on the team with 69 tackles. The dynamic duo will be put to the test against Yale’s Carr as the primary stoppers of the run. If Balestracci can swallow up Yale’s running attack with good backfield penetration, it will be a long day for the Elis.

Yale boasts junior Ken Estrera and sophomore Ben Breunig, the team’s two leading tacklers. Estrera has four sacks—as many as Balestracci—but does not possess the size or strength of Harvard’s future NFLer.

“In my opinion we have the best interior linebacking crew in the Ivy League,” Niemczak says. “Any time you have a pair of guys up the middle that can consistently put up 10 tackles a game, you know you have a special group of linebackers.”

Edge: Harvard

Defensive Backs

Junior Chris Raftery has made unbelievable strides from the Holy Cross game at the season’s beginning. At the outset of the season, Raftery was fighting for a starting job. Now, he is a candidate to win an All-Ivy award in some capacity. Raftery won Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week in Harvard’s 24-17 win against Princeton, intercepting a pass and making 12 tackles. He and senior safety Xavier Goss each have 63 tackles on the year, good for third overall on the team. Junior cornerback Benny Butler is undersized but makes up for it with lightning quickness. Senior strong safeties Juano Queen and Niall Murphy are big play guys who can create turnovers and sack the quarterback on a blitz.

Nevertheless, Harvard has had trouble containing opposing team’s number one receivers all year. Brown’s Chas Gessner, Penn’s Rob Milanese, Cornell’s Keith Ferguson and Dartmouth’s Casey Cramer have all racked up over 135 receiving yards against Harvard’s secondary and each hauled in at least one touchdown against the Crimson.

While Harvard has given up more yards through the air than every Ivy League squad except Dartmouth, Yale has allowed the least. The key match-up of the Game will likely be how well Yale’s cornerbacks, senior Owen Gilbert, junior Greg Owens and sophomore James Beck, can contain Morris and company.

Edge: Yale

Special Teams

Just as last year, Harvard has struggled with making field goals all year. The team is 2-of-7 on field goals, although senior Anders Blewett has never missed an extra point in his three-year varsity career. Junior punter Adam Kingston is solid, possessing the ability to both kick the ball long and pooch it out-of-bounds inside the twenty yard-line. Sophomores Rodney Byrnes and Gary Sonkur have the ability to return a kick for a touchdown—Byrnes already returned one for an 89-yard score against Cornell. Morris, who has never met a punt he hasn’t wanted to return, is always dangerous with the ball in hands despite his nerve-wracking tendency to avoid fair catches at all costs.

“I think he has a punt return [touchdown] in him still,” Murphy says. “It’s probably the only thing at Harvard Carl still hasn’t done.” Yale’s kicker, John Troost, is only 4-of-7 this season with a long of 35 yards. However, Yale’s special teams return unit is tops in the Ivies, averaging a league-high 23.7 yards a kickoff (Harvard is second with a 20.6 average) while holding opponents to a league-low 14.3 yards a return. Yale’s punter Chad Henley, however, is worst in the league with a 31.2-yard average.

Edge: Yale

Intangibles

Harvard will be angry and anxious on Saturday after an embarrassing loss last week. Rose, Morris, Palazzo, Soriano, and all the other seniors will be on top of their games as they play one last time in front of 31,000 cheering fans in Harvard Stadium. Expect Rose and Morris to have huge games. If Harvard wins and Penn loses, the Crimson can still win a share of the Ivy Championship. If the Harvard defense has as much success stopping Carr as it has had stopping other Ivy runners this season, the Crimson should finish the season on a high.

Edge: Harvard

Nevertheless, Harvard has had trouble containing opposing team’s number one receivers all year. Brown’s Chas Gessner, Penn’s Rob Milanese, Cornell’s Keith Ferguson and Dartmouth’s Casey Cramer have all racked up over 135 receiving yards against Harvard’s secondary and each hauled in at least one touchdown against the Crimson.

While Harvard has given up more yards through the air than every Ivy League squad except Dartmouth, Yale has allowed the least. The key match-up of the Game will likely be how well Yale’s cornerbacks, senior Owen Gilbert, junior Greg Owens and sophomore James Beck, can contain Morris and company.

Edge: Yale

Special Teams

Just as last year, Harvard has struggled with making field goals all year. The team is 2-of-7 on field goals, although senior Anders Blewett has never missed an extra point in his three-year varsity career. Junior punter Adam Kingston is solid, possessing the ability to both kick the ball long and pooch it out-of-bounds inside the twenty yard-line. Sophomores Rodney Byrnes and Gary Sonkur have the ability to return a kick for a touchdown—Byrnes already returned one for an 89-yard score against Cornell. Morris, who has never met a punt he hasn’t wanted to return, is always dangerous with the ball in hands despite his nerve-wracking tendency to avoid fair catches at all costs.

“I think he has a punt return [touchdown] in him still,” Murphy says. “It’s probably the only thing at Harvard Carl still hasn’t done.” Yale’s kicker, John Troost, is only 4-of-7 this season with a long of 35 yards. However, Yale’s special teams return unit is tops in the Ivies, averaging a league-high 23.7 yards a kickoff (Harvard is second with a 20.6 average) while holding opponents to a league-low 14.3 yards a return. Yale’s punter Chad Henley, however, is worst in the league with a 31.2-yard average.

Edge: Yale

Intangibles

Harvard will be angry and anxious on Saturday after an embarrassing loss last week. Rose, Morris, Palazzo, Soriano, and all the other seniors will be on top of their games as they play one last time in front of 31,000 cheering fans in Harvard Stadium. Expect Rose and Morris to have huge games. If Harvard wins and Penn loses, the Crimson can still win a share of the Ivy Championship. If the Harvard defense has as much success stopping Carr as it has had stopping other Ivy runners this season, the Crimson should finish the season on a high.

Edge: Harvard