Football Plagued by Slew of Injuries

The offensive unit that took the field for Harvard in the nation’s capital Saturday looked remarkably different from the one that started the preseason.

Not making the trip to last week’s Georgetown contest were starters quarterback Conner Hempel, running back Paul Stanton, wide receiver Ricky Zorn, and tight end Ty Hamblin.

Hempel suffered a back injury during the team’s first drive in the season opener against Holy Cross. The senior came back after halftime to lead the squad to a comeback victory against the Crusaders but has been sidelined since, ceding the starting position to junior play-caller Scott Hosch. Hosch has led the Crimson to back-to-back victories over Ivy rival Brown and Georgetown.

The junior quarterback will take the reins for at least one more week, as Harvard coach Tim Murphy confirmed that Hempel was still recovering from the early injury and would not be back for Saturday’s contest against Cornell.

The Crimson offense was already depleted entering the season, with Stanton missing from the lineup against Holy Cross. The junior tailback had a high ankle sprain during a preseason scrimmage, and though he returned to rush for 120 yards in the Brown game, aggravated his injury then and did not make the trip to Georgetown.

“Seeing everyone out there, not being able to play, it’s definitely hard to see that,” Stanton said. “But, you know, the team’s doing a great job without me. [Senior fullback] Andrew Casten’s really stepped up his game, so I’m happy to see that, and I’m just ready to play the rest of the season.”

With Stanton out, Casten has had a breakout season early on, rushing for three touchdowns against the Crusaders and finding the end zone four times at Georgetown. Casten, the team’s go-to back in the red zone, will likely only have to shoulder the majority of the rushing burden for another week, though, as Murphy is hopeful that both Stanton and Hempel will return for the Lafayette game, a week after Cornell.

Also notably missing from the offensive lineup are Hamblin, who was to be the most experienced tight end following the graduation of Cam Brate ’14 and Tyler Ott ’14, and fifth-year receiver Zorn, who tore his hamstring in the preseason. Hamblin has yet to appear in a game, and appears to be out indefinitely with a preseason injury, while Zorn’s recovery is “slow,” according to Murphy.

But if there’s a silver lining in the slew of injuries, it’s the Crimson’s relatively light schedule early on that has the squad facing nonconference and weaker Ivy opponents. Harvard’s real test will come near the end of the season, when the team faces Ivy powerhouses Princeton and Yale.

“The long term challenge is to beat the very best teams in our league,” Murphy said. “It would be great to have those guys, because they are among the very top players in the Ivy League. But at the end of the day, you’re going to have years like that and you’re just going to fight through the adversity. You have to adapt, you have to adjust, and that’s the way we’re looking at it, is we’re not counting on those guys.”

—Staff writer Samantha Lin can be reached at samantha.lin@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @Linsamnity.