Mazza Fills Spring Holes

Just a few months ago Corey Mazza was nothing more than an anonymous Ralph Lauren model straddling the sidelines of Soldier’s Field.

Now, not quite one year later, the freshman enters today’s annual spring game as the wide receiving corps’ senior statesmen with more Saturday snaps at the position than nearly all his peers combined.

“Thinking that eight months ago I’d sit on the outside corner of the room wondering if I’d even get a couple of chances to get in the game, and now being a freshman and having the most experience, it’s been kind of crazy,” Mazza said. “It’s a shock, like, ‘Holy crap, where did everyone go?’”

For Mazza, who has grown in coach Tim Murphy’s offense by leaps and bounds in just months, the change in responsibilities has been jarring, but not without its benefits. While he would have previously shared practice repetitions in two wideout sets with juniors Brian Edwards and Rodney Byrnes, their absence has opened up considerable time with the first team.

“It’s definitely helped a lot of us younger guys step up,” Mazza said, “realizing no one else is going to be here to do this…It is making us play older before our time.”

And as if the burden were not hefty enough, a wave of injuries has further depleted the group Murphy had thought he was replenishing by shifting a pair of players away from their previous positions.

Sophomore Ryan Tyler—the featured tailback prior to freshman Clifton Dawson’s arrival—made the jump last season, but injured his knee last week during a contact scrimmage. And classmate Todd LaFountaine, previously the third-string quarterback, began his transition this off-season, but has similarly fallen victim to injury, aggravating a shoulder ailment first suffered back in high school while diving to haul in a pass.

“It’s a little bit disappointing,” LaFountaine said. “But it’s not that big of a deal, just a non-contact drill designed to be safe.”

LAFOUNTAINE OF YOUTH

Though LaFountaine doubled as a safety during his time on the field in high school, his experience at wide receiver prior to the spring was limited to say the least.

“This,” LaFountaine said, “is brand new for me.”

But unlike junior wide receiver James Harvey, who is learning entirely new sets after transferring into the defensive secondary, LaFountaine’s basic knowledge of the offense has given him a leg up in the transition. Now, it is just a matter of refining his route running skills and timing.

“The transition has been more physical than mental,” LaFountaine said. “When I was a quarterback, I could never understand why it was so hard to get into the right spot. But now that I actually have to do it, I realize how hard quarterbacks actually throw the ball. It’s been more of a surprise than a challenge.”

Earning a spot in a crowded wide receiver field will be challenging as well, but the shift to wide receiver does open additional opportunities LaFountaine did not have access to as a signal caller.

Murphy does not allow his quarterbacks to participate on special teams, so LaFountaine had few ways to contribute while sitting behind captain Ryan Fitzpatrick and junior Garrett Schires on the depth chart. Now at wide receiver, though, LaFountaine is eagerly taking advantage of that second route in the hopes of guaranteeing playing time.

SPRING BALL

With the dearth of healthy and available wide receivers, fully exploring Murphy’s offense or even choosing sides for today’s spring game has been anything but easy.

“We weren’t even able to put in our full offensive package because there weren’t enough guys to run full groups,” Mazza said. “It’s kind of like who is going down next? Now we’ve got quarterbacks running with the second team as receivers. There’s no healthy bodies.”

In practice, those quarterbacks have included both Fitzpatrick and Schires, who have stepped in when their units were not on the field just to fill out a complete offensive unit. Though Fitzpatrick will not line up wide today, both Schires and freshman Mike Jones are expected to help fill the numerous holes, as is sophomore tight end Kelly Widman.

“From what I understand, it’s going to become like the fall scrimmage,” Mazza said. “It’s just going to be ones versus ones and twos versus twos. We wouldn’t even be able to go a five receiver set.”

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