Undefeated Football Hosts Dartmouth

Five-hundred ninety-four yards of net total offense—240 yards rushing, 354 yards passing. Twenty-six first downs and five touchdowns. Forty points.

One week later, the Harvard defense is still grappling with the fact that those numbers were not the product of the Crimson offensive juggernaut that has made mincemeat of opposing squads but a snapshot of the damage Princeton inflicted last Saturday.

And with its perfect record on the line when its hosts Dartmouth (2-4. 1-2 Ivy) tomorrow, No. 16 Harvard (6-0, 3-0) needs its old defense back. Fast.

In the five games prior to Princeton, Harvard had allowed just 84 points—16.8 per game—and 513 yards total rushing, or 102.6 yards per game. The Tigers hit holes earlier opponents didn’t know existed, ran trick plays and caught the Crimson defense off guard for momentum-changing plays deep down field on several occasions.

“Our biggest thing is just working on focus,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “There were a lot of technical mistakes rather than lack of effort. Of the 500-something yards, just 14 plays led to 424 yards.”

Of those big plays, three went for touchdowns of at least 40 yards and a fourth scoring strike was narrowly avoided when a fleaflicker on the first play of the opening drive was completed but the receiver, Blair Morrison, was brought down after a 58-yard gain.

“Last two weeks we’ve had a little bit of a breakdown on the defense,” senior tackle Jon Berrier said. “Guys have been out of position trying to do too many things, not doing their own job. But we’ve had a great week in practice.”

Critical to Princeton’s success was running back Jon Veach’s ability to befuddle the Crimson front seven, carrying the ball 40 times but varying the rushes enough that Harvard could not find an answer until overtime. Captain Dante Balestracci and junior Bobby Everett combined for 31 tackles, but still he kept coming.

“When a running back runs for 200 yards, those statistics don’t take on quite the significance,” Murphy said.

Veach’s success was in large part the product of the blocking which cleared large swaths of field in front of him of potential tacklers in a position to make a hit. The Tigers’ offensive line neutralized the Crimson defensive line, pushing it aside and rendering it virtually useless in stopping the run. This forced the secondary to apply more pressure to the quarterback, which, while effective, presented greater opportunities for Princeton downfield.

“Princeton handled [the defensive line] last week,” Murphy said. “We’ve challenged them. We’ve got to control the line of scrimmage.”

If the Crimson doesn’t win the battle up front and Dartmouth manages to assert its running game, Harvard will find itself contending with many of the same difficulties that emerged last weekend against the Tigers.

The Big Green will attempt to run the ball in order to control the clock and limit the number of chances the Crimson get with the ball, since Dartmouth does not have the offensive firepower to keep pace should Harvard get rolling and post a large number on the scoreboard. While the Crimson has scored at least 27 points in each of its first six contests, Dartmouth has not scored more than 26.

Tailback Chris Little displayed flashes of brilliance last weekend against Columbia, rushing for a personal-high 137 yards on 31 carries, including a 31-yard scamper for a touchdown. Should he find holes anywhere near the size Veach saw last weekend, he’ll have no problem finding his way into Harvard territory.

Though Little lacks the pass-catching capabilities Veach displayed last weekend, fullback Scott Wedum has solid hands out of the backfield and can be counted on to provide a safety outlet should long passing routes downfield break down. Against Penn’s staunch defense, Wedum reeled in eight catches for 53 yards.

“We don’t anticipate them throwing to the fullback as much [as Princeton did Veach],” Berrier said. “We weren’t playing in our correct positions.”

Murphy and his defense will characteristically attempt to take away the rush and short dump off pass out of the backfield first, looking to force the Big Green into obvious long passing situations. Though the passing attack is the stronger half of Dartmouth’s offense, this will remove doubt as to what play is about to be called.

“We really have to do that because if you make them one-dimensional, then at least you know what’s coming,” Murphy said.

If this should fail, sophomore quarterback Charlie Rittgers has not demonstrated the skills to win the game by himself, but, if provided the weapons and opportunities, could be capable of distributing the ball to Wedum and others, allowing teammates to do the rest.

“He’s a solid quarterback,” Berrier said. “We’ve seen more explosive players this year, but just like any game you have to go in respecting any quarterback you’re going to play. He’s got some pretty big targets.”

Senior wideout Jay Barnard and tight end Casey Cramer present one of the stronger pairs of options that the Crimson will have to contend with this season.

“If I had to tell you who the top five receivers in the [Ivy] League are, Jay Barnard and Casey Cramer would be right up there,” Murphy said.

Barnard leads the country in receptions per game—8.67 headed into tomorrow’s contest—and averages more than 100 yards through the air each time out, driving his tally slowly upwards on short receptions before erupting for big gainers like his 44-yard score last weekend against the Lions.

“The biggest strength of both of them is that they are tremendous competitors,” Murphy said. “They go out and they get the ball.”

Despite being removed from last weekend’s game at the half with a rib contusion, senior cornerback Benny Butler will return to the starting lineup and look to contain the duo opposite freshman Danny Tanner, who continues to fill in for injured junior Gary Sonkur.

Sonkur will likely be held out one more week, due to his high ankle sprain, Murphy said.

With Butler’s return, senior Chris Raftery will return to free safety from the cornerback slot he slid over to fill last weekend.

“Our secondary is going to have to step up big this weekend,” Berrier said. “Barnard’s a great player. He’s put up some pretty impressive stats. Casey Cramer’s one of the best players in the league.”

Cramer presents a unique challenge to the Crimson defense, which has faced few legitimate pass-catching threats at tight end this season. To minimize the threat, Harvard will divide coverage between a defensive lineman dropping back to interrupt passing lanes and a linebacker guarding passes across the middle of the field.

“It’s going to be situational,” Berrier said. “We may be dropping a defensive end to pick up on him. Otherwise it’ll be the linebackers coming across the middle for the slant.”

Notes: Junior quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick remains sidelined by his broken right hand. The Crimson signal caller’s hand was removed from its cast this week, but as of right now no time table has been set for his return to action. Junior Garrett Schires makes his third consecutive start in his place tomorrow against Dartmouth....Sophomore running back Ryan Tyler’s status for tomorrow’s game is in doubt due to a stomach ailment the rusher sustained last Friday evening. After practicing through his sprained ribs in the week leading up to last Saturday’s game against Princeton, Tyler came down with a case of pancreatitis and was sidelined as a result....Junior defensive end Doug Bennett returns to action this weekend, restoring some of the depth absent from the defensive line in recent weeks.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.