The Last Word Before First Down

WHEN HARVARD RUNS THE BALL

The complexion of the Harvard ground attack has changed dramatically since the Crimson last squared off against Holy Cross. Gone is the running back by committee scheme which split touches equally between Clifton Dawson and Ryan Tyler. Dawson’s arrival as the Ivy League’s premier running back earned him the lion’s share of the carries even before Tyler switched to wide receiver late last season. With that move made permanent last spring, Dawson figures to be in the backfield for as many downs as his conditioning will allow. Though Harvard coach Tim Murphy’s offense is widely viewed as pass first, the Crimson will attempt to maximize Dawson’s touches to both exploit the Crusaders’ weak rushing defense and provide a respectable counterbalance to its dangerous air attack.

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick should command similar respect for his running game. Coming off a season in which he missed three games due to injury, however, he will probably exercise more caution before leaving the pocket. Last year, Fitzpatrick led Harvard with 112 yards on 18 carries against Holy Cross. Though his numbers may be comparable this go around, the number of running plays called for him will likely decrease significantly. Murphy has impressed upon his captain the importance of having a healthy starting quarterback—a lesson easily learned after the Crimson’s mid-season woes last year—and urged Fitzpatrick to more selectively “pick his spots.” When he does, the Crusaders will discover little else has changed since last season. Fitzpatrick’s speed and elusiveness survived the knee injury which hobbled him during The Game last season, and opposing defenses will be hard pressed to contain him once he finds a seam in the open field.

Holy Cross features a 5-2 defense that places a premium on winning the battle at the line of scrimmage and snuffing out rushing attempts before they gain any steam. The unit, keyed by linebacker and team-leading tackler David Fitzpatrick, has enjoyed mixed results against the run thus far this season, surrendering 139 yards in its season opener against Duquesne before holding San Diego to just 79. But despite the statistical improvement, the Crusaders fared poorly last weekend with their backs against the wall, surrendering two rushing touchdowns from inside the 10-yard line. With a backfield arsenal far more impressive than either of Holy Cross’ early-season opponents, the Crimson should have a strong chance of matching the 293 yards and four touchdowns accumulated on the ground during the teams’ 2003 meeting.

WHEN HARVARD PASSES THE BALL

The last time Harvard and Holy Cross met, wide receiver Brian Edwards joked that he and his unit had been told by Harvard coach Tim Murphy to pray for man coverage. The football gods obliged and Edwards exploded for 152 yards on seven receptions, including one score, emphatically announcing his ascension to the upper echelon of Ivy receivers. The Crusaders would be foolish to commit such an egregious error twice, but it remains to be seen whether any strategy can prop up Holy Cross’ overmatched secondary against the Crimson’s passing game.

By all accounts, the combination of Edwards and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has lost none of its potency during the off-season. Edwards’ speed should allow him to slip behind the Crusaders’ coverage with relative ease, and if he is open, Fitzpatrick will have little difficulty finding him. The duo shamed several cornerbacks last season with perfectly placed balls lofted long down the middle of the field—often on broken plays—and Holy Cross’ secondary shouldn’t expect to do much better. If Edwards happens to catch a pass with defenders between him and the endzone, his elusiveness will leave would-be tacklers just as frustrated—and his yards after catch will leave coaches scratching their heads.

In the event the secondary commits too strongly to defending Edwards, Fitzpatrick won’t hesitate to connect with sophomore Corey Mazza, who has shined since the start of spring ball. The weight Mazza added in the off-season makes him difficult to bring down when running inside routes, and his speed along the sidelines nearly rivals the threat posed by Edwards’.

The only question up in the air is how devoted the Crimson offense is to working running back Clifton Dawson into its rotation out of the backfield. Murphy has said that he would consider any option that earned the sophomore speedster additional touches, and Dawson’s marked improvement upon his pass reception skills during the off-season make him yet another target for Fitzpatrick. If Dawson has difficulty making his presence felt on the ground, screen plays and passes to him in the flat will send the Crusaders back to square one.

The Holy Cross secondary has allowed 307.5 yards passing per game in 2004 while struggling to guard against “the big play,” surrendering three passing touchdowns of at least 30 yards in its first two games. Cornerbacks Ted Nugent (5’7) and Casey Gough (5’10) match up particularly poorly against Edwards (6’0) and Mazza (6’3) and will be vulnerable in single coverage situations.

WHEN HOLY CROSS RUNS THE BALL

Holy Cross’ rushing attack features the same 1-2 combination smothered by the Crimson defense when the two squads last met. Steve Silva and Gideon Akande managed just 47 yards on 17 carries in Harvard’s 43-23 victory—a tandem effort abbreviated by the Crusaders’ decision to abandon the run altogether late in the game. The woeful numbers were less the product of lackluster running than poor protection from the offensive line. The Crimson recorded nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage and applied pressure in the backfield on virtually every down.

The battle for control of the line of scrimmage will again decide the fate of Holy Cross’ running game, but the shape of the scrum will be decidely different this go around. The Crusaders return none of their offensive linemen from last year’s matchup with Harvard. The corps is composed of two sophomores and three juniors, with the two underclassmen both lined up left of the center. What the quintet lacks in experience is offset by its collective girth. Averaging just under 287 lbs.—right tackle Lee Chase alone weighs 309 lbs.—the five have had little difficulty opening holes for Silva and Akande, who are averaging a combined 144 yards rushing per game after two weeks.

The rate of success in using that heft to neutralize the Crimson front seven should dictate the pace of the Holy Cross offense. If Harvard’s linemen, anchored by veteran defensive tackles Matt McBurney and Coesen Ngwun, should gain the upperhand, as they did last year, the Crusaders will likely face a mounting deficit and need to fall back on a frantic—and rarely effective—pass-always offense. The Crimson front four, tipping the scales at 252 lbs., on average—a full 35 lbs. lighter than their adversaries—will rely on their quickness to circumvent the protection. As he did throughout last season, Harvard coach Tim Murphy will rotate through eight defensive linemen throughout the contest to ensure that fresh rushers maintain a constant level of pressure on that front five.

Should the Crimson penetrate the backfield, Holy Cross quarterback John O’Neil poses a negligible threat with his legs. He has rushed just 10 times this season for a measly 20 yards, and hesitated to abandon the pocket’s protection in the face of Harvard’s rush in 2003, when he gained eight yards on two carries.

Even if the Crusaders open sufficient holes at the line, blocking linebacker Bobby Everett presents a challenge not easily matched. Stopping his charge will be a tall order for fullback Brian Gavin, despite his 30-lb. advantage, and protecting Silva and Akande from linebackers Matt Thomas and Sean Tracy as well figures to be nearly impossible.

WHEN HOLY CROSS PASSES THE BALL

If Holy Cross hopes to avoid a repeat of last year’s 20-point drubbing, the Crusaders’ wide receivers will need to better establish their presence between the hash marks. The Crimson linebackers and secondary owned the center of the field last year, punishing route runners as they cut across the middle. That left Holy Cross with little option but to attempt high-risk passes along the well-guarded sidelines. By the fourth quarter, Harvard defenders had so thoroughly beaten their opponents that Holy Cross all-American wide receiver Ari Confesor actually stopped running for a pass floating towards Crimson linebacker Dante Balestracci ’04 to avoid taking the hit.

Confesor has since graduated, leaving the task of taming the Harvard defensive backfield to Sean Gruber, who has emerged as the Crusaders’ most reliable receiving option in the wake of his departure. At 6’0, Gruber provides a large target for quarterback John O’Neil, who failed to hit much of anything last season against the Crimson. Struggling mightily in the first half, O’Neil was lifted in favor of his backup, who enjoyed little more success.

O’Neil hasn’t encountered any similar roadblocks this season, particularly when winging the ball in Gruber’s direction. After connecting three times for 80 yards in the season opener against Duquesne, O’Neil completed nine passes to Gruber for 159 yards and two scores against San Diego, all new personal bests for the up-and-coming-wide receiver.

But beyond Gruber, the Crusaders fail to muster much of a downfield threat. Confesor’s replacement, Bob Turkovich, has been largely ineffective this season, forcing O’Neil to look for additional passing options closer to the line of scrimmage. So far, that has meant more touches for running back Steve Silva, who averages over 100 yards of total offense per game thanks to two outings with at least 40 yards receiving. His able hands have provided a much-needed safety outlet for O’Neil—one which might be especially necessary this weekend when, say, linebacker Bobby Everett is within five yards and closing.

Harvard’s cornerbacks, Keith Howell (6’0) and Gary Sonkur (5’9), cede fewer inches to opposing wide receivers than Crimson defensive backs have in the past, making O’Neil’s margin for error even smaller than last year, when Sonkur and Benny Butler ’04 (5’8) prowled the defensive backfield.

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