Back-Up Reciever Thrust Into Spotlight For Football

Ryan Tyler always expected to be a big part of the Crimson offense. But he couldn’t have imagined this was how his Harvard football career would go.

A speedy back with great hands who could bust through the line or catch a pass 20 yards downfield, the current senior decided to come to Cambridge after a stellar high school career at La Costa Canyon in Encinitas, Calif. He entered his sophomore year as the Crimson’s starting running back.

Then running back Clifton Dawson appeared on the scene.

Now, three years after Tyler was pegged to be the next great Harvard running back, after the consensus best back in school history came from nowhere to take his job, and after he endured a position change to wide receiver, Tyler has finally become what he always thought he would be—an integral ingredient in the Crimson attack.

Tyler will likely enter this Saturday’s game against No. 11 Lehigh as the team’s primary receiver. With both starting wide receivers—junior Corey Mazza (ankle) and senior Rodney Byrnes (hamstring)—doubtful for this weekend’s matchup because of injuries, Tyler and sophomore Joe Murt will be asked to fill the void.

“It’s tough losing Rodney and Corey,” Tyler said. “[But] I’m looking forward to the opportunity. Coming into the season wide receiver was probably the deepest position on the team. So it’s obviously unfortunate that Corey and Rodney went down, but it should be okay.”

Tyler, who started the season as the No. 3 receiver but quickly saw more action after Rodney Byrnes was injured during Harvard’s first offensive series, will be the only receiver on the field Saturday who has caught more than 20 passes in a season.

He transitioned to receiver after Dawson transferred from Northwestern prior to the 2003 season. Though Tyler began the season as the team’s first-string tailback, Dawson soon took hold of the job and hasn’t looked back.

During Tyler’s first full season as a wideout last year, he finished third on the team with 22 catches. And in this year’s opener at Holy Cross, he had a career-best five catches for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Tyler and Murt figure to see their touches go up dramatically because of the injuries, but both know where the strength of the offense lies.

“The strength of our team right now obviously is the running game.” Tyler said. “That won’t change.”

Added Murt: “We can definitely, if we need to, just go back and give [Dawson] the ball all the time. But I feel like we’ll still be able to pass the ball.”

Murt—who Tyler claimed “has probably the best set of hands on the team,”—will see the first sustained action of his career. After spending last year as the team’s fourth or fifth wide receiver, he now finds himself in a starting role just three games into his sophomore campaign.

“I’m definitely a lot more comfortable this year,” he said. “I feel a lot more comfortable going into games. I think this year I can be a much bigger factor.”

While the Crimson may look to get Dawson the ball a little more than he already does, both Murt and Tyler said that there will be no drastic changes to the offensive scheme.

Freshman Alex Breaux and junior Danny Brown—both of whom come into the Lehigh game with little experience—will see the field in three and four receiver sets.

“The personnel will change,” Tyler said, “but the scheme shouldn’t.”

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached as stearns@fas.harvard.edu