Spurned Prospect Becomes Ivy Star

Harvard coach Tim Murphy must still wonder if Yale wide receiver Ralph Plumb looked as good on video during his senior year of high school as he did during The Game last season.

A year ago, Plumb hauled in 15 passes for 158 yards, hounding the Crimson secondary in his breakout performance. Not a bad display for a converted quarterback with no chance of playing Ivy League ball.

“When Plumb was in high school—he’s from Rhode Island—I got a call from an acquaintance in Rhode Island,” Murphy said. “And he says, ‘We’ve got a real good kid down here. He’s a quarterback but I think he’ll be a wideout or a [defensive back].’”

His interest piqued by the advice, Murphy asked his area recruiter to follow up on the tip, then report back.

The response was underwhelming, to say the least.

“He said, ‘Ah, coach, he can’t play,’” Murphy said. “I said, ‘You seen him on film?’ ‘Yeah, he can’t play.’”

But Murphy’s source wasn’t convinced, again imploring the Crimson coach to give Plumb a closer look.

“I said, ‘This guy really thinks [Plumb] can play.’ [The area recruiter] says, ‘Coach, I guarantee that kid’ll never play in this league,’” Murphy said with a grimace. “Let me tell you, I kick myself in the butt for not watching the video because four years later he not only is one of the top players in the league, but he hates our guts.”

With graduates Nate Lawrie and Rob Benigno drawing the bulk of the attention of Harvard’s defenders last year, Plumb channeled that resentment into a game-changing effort, owning the sidelines between the 20-yard lines.

Not that Plumb hasn’t been solid against other opponents. The Portsmouth, R.I., native leads the Ancient Eight in receptions with 68, is second in the conference in yards per game with 95.8, and is No. 2 nationwide in catches per game with 7.56.

Like Lawrie, the Bulldogs’ towering tight end and Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft pick, Plumb isn’t much of a speed threat, but his size makes him a generous target for quarterback Alvin Cowan.

“He’s not a guy that has a lot of yards after the catch,” Murphy said. “He just is a big body. Boom. They just stick the ball to him.”

“[He] catches a lot of balls underneath, but can beat you deep also,” Yale coach Jack Siedlecki added. “He is very physical and poses a physical mismatch for many of the corners and safeties in our league.”

Most 6’4, 225-lb. wide receivers who “catch everything” do. Murphy hinted that his defenders will be adopting a strategy more frequently used on the hardwood than the gridiron.

“The key is you’ve got to be all over him,” Murphy said. “You’ve got to be in front of him; you’ve got to be behind him; you’ve got to defend him, kind of like you defend a basketball player trying to get the basketball, which is even easier said than done.”

That said, providing the double coverage Plumb demands isn’t always a feasible option given the quality of the wide receiver lined up opposite him.

Chandler Henley, though not as consistent a threat, has wrought almost equal damage this season for the Bulldogs, reeling in 44 catches for 642 yards and six touchdowns.

“Chandler has just a great pair of hands and is a great route runner,” Siedlecki said. “He works extremely hard on the little things.”

Still, despite the quality of its wideouts, Lawrie’s departure has taken its toll on the Yale passing game, noticeably down from last season. In 2003, Cowan racked up 299.4 yards per game through the air, but just 212.1 this season.

“I guess [the loss] of Nate Lawrie has had a more stifling effect on their offense than I would have predicted,” Murphy said. “Hopefully that doesn’t change.”

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