Reinforcements Fill Trenches

Everyone is questioning the Harvard football team’s offensive line this year. That’s just fine with them—it’s another opportunity to surprise unsuspecting opponents.

With the loss of four starters, including NFL tackle James Williams ’10, it is easy to predict the challenges facing the new group.

“I think our biggest concern probably is the offensive line,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy says. “One, we graduated four seniors last year, four really good players. And two, we’ve been banged up during the preseason...and we haven’t really had the opportunity to really get used to one concrete group.”

But ask any of the athletes in the trenches, and they have a bit more confidence to go with the chip on their shoulders.

“Even though we graduated four guys, we have four seniors on the offensive line, so I don’t foresee too many changes,” senior guard Brent Osborne says.

Harvard does still have its stalwarts along the line, with Osborne leading the way. The right guard started all but one contest in 2009 and will be a role model to the rest of the linemen—even if they are his classmates.

“[Osborne] takes pride in leading by example, and he’s great at that because he’s one of the best and most physical linemen—not just on our team, but in the league,” Murphy says.

But Osborne deflects the individual praise, emphasizing instead that the group must gel as a unit to succeed.

“The same as every year, [I try to] play as hard as I can, try to be a good team player,” Osborne says. “On the offensive line, you don’t really have one guy that can dominate. You have to have all five guys playing at the same level.”

Yet if there’s one position that needs to be dominant, it is on the other side of the line at left tackle. Williams proved adept last year at protecting then-junior Collier Winters’ blind side, helping the first-year starter settle in at quarterback. Once again, the Crimson must break in a new starter this year, as senior Andrew Hatch will take the reins under center. Hatch, even more of a pocket passer than Winters, will not fare well if constant pressure disrupts his rhythm. An entirely overhauled offensive line might not inspire confidence, but junior Kevin Murphy is no average replacement.

The 6’7” left tackle has emerged as a rising star along the line, morphing what was once a 240-lb. frame into a 290-lb. fortress, according to his coach.

“I think one of the surprises of the league will be our left tackle,” said Tim Murphy at the Ivy League Media Day in August. “[Kevin Murphy’s] got great size, he’s very athletic, very tough, and very committed. We think he has a chance to be as good an O-lineman as we’ve had since Matt Birk [’98].”

The coach’s comment came well before the start of the season, but comparing Kevin Murphy to an All-Pro NFL center certainly caught the media’s attention. And if anyone was concerned that Coach Murphy was indulging in hyperbole, the man who has led Harvard football for 17 years only became more confident after the preseason.

“[Kevin] is not just tall and big and athletic,” Coach Murphy praises. “He’s smart, he’s tough, and...like I said, he probably has the most potential of any lineman we’ve had here...So we expect big things from Murph.”

The left tackle has taken such high expectations in stride, but the first-year starter realizes that until he proves his talent in games, all the hype is just speculation.

“This season I definitely have to prove myself as a player,” Kevin says.

But even in the position that Michael Lewis glorified in The Blind Side, Kevin recognizes that, like Osborne, his talent only represents one piece of the puzzle.

“It’s not so much making myself better as it is forming a cohesive group with the other linemen that I’m working with,” Kevin says of his offseason focus. “[I’m] trying my hardest and making sure everyone else tries their hardest.”

The only question, then, is who everyone else will be. Osborne and Murphy could represent enough All-Ivy talent to be the foundation of a solid line, but injuries and inconsistency have left the rest of the group in flux.

Coach Murphy credited senior center Chris Leroy, who will also fill All-Ivy shoes with the departure of Alex Spisak ’10, as the last true fixture among the front five. Seniors Matt Bush and Kyle Harasimowicz currently have the edge to fill out the left guard and right tackle spots, respectively, but as the squad prepares for Holy Cross tomorrow, the final two starters must prove that they can keep pace. If so, the offensive line that has generated so many question marks may leave a few defenses questioning themselves.

“[The linemen] are one of the hardest-working groups on the team, and you see that every day,” says senior running back Gino Gordon. “So I have the utmost confidence in what they’re doing. We’re going to have a lot of fun this year playing behind them...I don’t think our run game will skip a beat.”

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.