The Promised Lande: Defensive Tackles Set Tone, Plug Gaps

They weren’t in the press conference after the game. They never are.

But they were everywhere that mattered on Saturday.

They were making holes disappear in front of Northeastern tailback Tim Gale. They were manhandling offensive linemen so that their teammates could blow by and terrorize Husky quarterback Shawn Brady. And then, of course, they were in the backfield themselves, chalking up sacks and forcing bad passes.

They are Matt McBurney, Jon Berrier, Brendan McCafferty and Coesen Ngwun, Harvard’s four defensive tackles who never get enough credit.

They may not have beaten No. 10 Northeastern on their own—it was definitely a team win—but without stellar play from the men up front, the Crimson would have had no chance.

“We have an expression that ‘It’s what’s up front that counts,’ on both sides of the ball,” said Harvard coach Tim Murphy.

And it never counted more than on Saturday, with one of the nation’s top rushing offenses visiting Harvard Stadium. The Huskies brought to the game four tailbacks with at least 45 yards per game, and its top three rushers were averaging a combined 7.7 yards per carry.

Not anymore.

Only three running backs saw time against the Crimson, and only the bruiser Gale saw more than a couple carries. Northeastern coach Don Brown took one look at his speedier backs Anthony Riley and Peter Harris run smack into Harvard’s rock-solid front and gave them the rest of the game off.

So the challenge fell to Gale—the 6’0, 235-lb. hulk—who makes his living wearing down defenses’ fronts. With the Huskies dominating time of possession in the first half, you thought for sure it was going to work. That it would be only be a matter of time before the Balestracci-sized Gale would be running through giant holes and exhausted defenders.

But that didn’t happen Saturday. The Crimson was too deep, too fresh and too darn good. And it started with the four defensive tackles, who never get tired because there is always another one ready to come in and wreak havoc. They may not have had the tackles, but they made them possible.

“They were in the gaps, making plays the whole day,” said linebacker and captain Dante Balestracci, who had another good day of his own. “Any time you can keep the offensive line and establish the line of scrimmage [and] make those running backs have to cut for three-to-four yards in the backfield as opposed to three-to-four yards downfield, it’s a lot easier for those linebackers and those safeties to make plays and get their guys.”

The run was stuffed. Gale was held to 46 yards and the Huskies were forced into one long yardage situation after another. By plugging the run and jumping out to a large halftime lead, Harvard made the vaunted Northeastern offense one-dimensional.

“Too many third-and-longs,” Brown lamented. “Too many throw scenarios. We didn’t run the football effectively. If we don’t get that done, it puts too much pressure on the other side of the coin, on the throw game.”

The Huskies had no choice but to pass, and that’s when the fun started.

Brady attempted 47 passes, 30 in a frantic second half, but completed less than 40 percent. He was sacked seven times, hurried dozens more and rarely had time to set his feet.

Though the tackles combined for only two sacks—both by McCafferty—they helped make all the others possible.

“The defensive ends get a lot of the sacks,” said Murphy, whose ends accounted for three sacks on the afternoon, “but we are getting tremendous pressure from our inside guys. I tell you what, they were rocking the pocket. You could just see it collapse every time they dropped back to pass.”

In a matchup billed as the meeting of Division I-AA’s top two offenses, it was a defensive gem—the combination of a great game plan and beautiful execution.

And it all started at the line of scrimmage, with four defensive tackles setting the tone.

As Murphy said, it’s what’s up front that counts.

—Staff writer Lande A. Spottswood can be reached at spottsw@fas.harvard.edu.