Guess Who's Back? Football Opens Season Tomorrow

Matching last year’s undefeated season should be far from the minds of the the Harvard football team tomorrow. Starting off 1-0 will be tough enough.

The defending Ivy League champion Crimson opens its season tomorrow at 1 p.m. when it hosts nationally-ranked Holy Cross at the Stadium.

While Ivy League rules prohibited the Crimson from starting its season earlier, the Crusaders (2-0) have already played two games, putting Harvard at a disadvantage.

“The biggest challenge for us has been just waiting to play,” said Harvard Coach Tim Murphy. “It’s not the position you want to be in for our opener, but that’s the way our league decided to do it.”

No. 23 Holy Cross enters the game fresh off a 41-13 win over Patriot League doormat Georgetown. The Crusaders struggled in the first half before pulling away with 28 unanswered points after intermission.

Far more impressive was the Crusaders’ 30-21 victory over Division I-A Army the previous weekend. Despite giving up more than 450 yards in total offense, Holy Cross prevailed on the strength of five fumble recoveries. It was the Crusaders’ first victory over a 1-A opponent since 1987, when they also beat Army.

Harvard has not faced Holy Cross in two years, since last season’s contest was canceled in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 tragedies.

The 2000 game, which Harvard lost, 27-25, was a sloppily played affair featuring five Crimson turnovers. When the Crimson wasn’t turning the ball over, it was watching Crusader quarterback Brian Hall pick its defense apart. Hall—now a senior—completed 16-of-23 passes for 144 yards in the game and also added 116 yards rushing on 23 carries.

“Hall is a stud quarterback,” Murphy said. “Every time we’ve played them he’s just killed us.”

Hall has struggled so far this year while adjusting to new receivers. Though he has amassed 359 yards passing with three touchdowns in two games, Hall has rushed for just 22 yards on 10 attempts.

“He still hasn’t played up to his potential,” said Holy Cross Coach Dan Allen.

Despite Hall’s success against Harvard, the Crusaders’ most potent weapon might be on special teams. Wide receiver/returner Ari Confesor has been unstoppable in the return game this year. The junior already has 500 all-purpose yards this season, 327 of which came in the Crusaders’ win over Army. Confesor had a school-record 209 yards on kick returns—including one 95-yard return for a touchdown—83 yards rushing and 34 yards receiving. Despite only one punt-return yard against Army, Confesor still averages 18.8 yards a return.

For his efforts, Confessor was named the Sports Network National Special Teams Player of the Week.

The 2000 game also marked the first significant action for Harvard quarterback and captain Neil Rose. Replacing an ineffective Barry Wahlberg in the third quarter, Rose looked impressive but could not quite lead the Crimson to victory. Still, his performance was good enough to regain the starting job, one Rose cemented with his record-setting performance the following week against Brown.

“That game was tough for me because I always had thought I’d start,” Rose said. “Before the game I had envisioned coming in and doing the things that happened. I’ll always look at that as the time when I proved myself to the coaching staff.”

Rose and senior wideout Carl Morris—last season’s Ivy League Player of the Year—form what is easily the most potent passing combination in the Ivy League.

“I don’t know if we can stop them,” Allen said. “We’ll just have to slow them down the best we can.”

Holy Cross will rely heavily on its linebackers—led by All-America candidate David Dugan—to contain the Crimson offense. Rose said expects the Crusaders to use a 3-4 alignment while playing back to stop the deep pass.

“They’re going to make us run the football, which we’re pretty comfortable doing, and they’re going to make us be patient with the pass,” Rose said.

If, as expected, the Crusaders place heavy coverage on Morris, senior wideout Kyle Cremarosa should see several more passes come his way. Cremarosa returns from a year off to give Rose another dependable option at receiver.

“It’s wonderful to have him back,” Rose said. “The routes he runs are perfect, he’s got flawless technique, and he’s got perhaps the stickiest hands I’ve ever seen.”

Senior tailback Nick Palazzo—the team’s leading rusher—returns at tailback, but he might have more trouble finding holes behind a revamped offensive line that must replace four starters. Since the Crimson intends to run a balanced attack, the performance of the offensive line could be crucial to the game’s outcome.

“Our offensive line was pretty much decimated by graduation,” Murphy said. “We’re going to find out what we’re like up front tomorrow.”

Rose, however, said he does not expect a drop-off in play up front.

“We’re not under the impression that our line is weaker than last year,” Rose said. “I’m expecting great things Saturday.”