Wide Open: Football Has Holes at Wide Receiver

It’s been hard enough for Harvard coach Tim Murphy to find bodies to provide adequate protection for his quarterbacks this season, with five of seven projected offensive linemen suffering an injury at some point this season. Now that his offensive line has finally begun to heal, there’s practically no one left to throw to.

Last Saturday’s game against Columbia saw yet another setback on the injury front as two of the Crimson’s top four receivers—juniors Rodney Byrnes and James Harvey—fell victim to injury in the first quarter. Suddenly, senior Adam Gordon and sophomore Corey Waller—until that moment not even listed on the depth-charts at wide receiver—were thrust into the game to cover for their two injured teammates.

With Harvard’s quarterback situation still uncertain following junior Ryan Fitzpatrick’s reaggravation of his broken hand and classmate Garrett Schires’ weak showing against the Lions, Harvard coach Tim Murphy now finds himself searching for answers at the bottom of his receiving corps. Luckily for him, the talent at wideout runs deep.

After all, this is a passing game that graduated the legendary Carl Morris ’03 and lost its No. 2 man, Kyle Cremarosa, to a broken ankle during the off-season and still became the best offense in Division I-AA, averaging 502.9 yards of total offense and 34.7 points per game prior to the team’s defeat in New York.

While the receiving assignments will be changed around for the final two games of the season, there is still much to be confident about.

Though Harvey—averaging 26.1 yards per game—is definitely out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, fellow junior Brian Edwards, who emerged in the season-opener against Holy Cross as the Crimson’s answer to Morris’ graduation, enters Saturday’s game against No. 8 Penn averaging 84.4 yards a game and, more importantly, healthy.

With the number of potential substitutes at his position dwindling, Edwards will likely be on the field for every offensive play.

Byrnes, who once again sustained a high ankle sprain, similar to the one that kept his action limited earlier in the season, has not been ruled out of the upcoming games. Freshman phenom Corey Mazza is also at full strength and will likely be on the field with Edwards on every down.

From there Murphy and the Crimson get creative.

Sophomore Ryan Tyler, third on the team in rushing, will be moved to wide receiver against Penn and Yale.

“Tyler will be fine,” said Edwards. “He’s Superman—just a great athlete.”

Tyler’s time in the backfield has been limited lately after he injured his ribs against Cornell and battled a case of pancreatitis the following week.

In his absence, freshman tailback Clifton Dawson emerged as one of Harvard’s top offensive threats, leaving little room for Tyler.

With little game experience between the two of them, Gordon—who has up until this point exclusively been holder on placekicks—and Waller will be mixed in on plays for the remaining games against the Quakers and Yale.

But lack of experience does not mean these two are unprepared.

“I think everyone in our corps is tough enough to go out there and do well,” Harvey said.

Both backups have been getting the same reps in practice as the starters have all season. They know the offense and this weekend, unlike last, they will be expecting to get on the field.

“Gordon’s a senior, he knows his stuff,” Edwards said. “He’s looking for an opportunity to prove himself.”

But it’s not as if the receivers are the only members of the Crimson squad with something to prove this Saturday.

Harvard was struggling against injury all season before it had troubles against Dartmouth and Columbia. But they’re trained for this kind of situation.

“It all begins with our coaches,” said Gordon. “They teach us how to approach this kind of situation. The strength of our team is overcoming adversity.”

The mishaps befalling the receivers will not change the outlook towards the final two games. Penn was going to be the toughest game of the season before Fitzpatrick broke his hand and before Byrnes and Harvey went down against the Lions.

Last weekend’s events call for other players to step up and no one will be lying down come game time.

“We have nothing left to do but fight back,” Byrnes said.

The timing of the injuries—coming against the Lions and not the Quakers—gives Harvard more time to prepare and adjust in practice this week. And with that extra time on its side, the Crimson hopes that Gordon will be ready to hold for the extra point after scoring in the endzone.