Red Storm Rising Over The Stadium

Today we are talking with Harvard defensive coordinator George Clemens. We are talking, appropriately enough, about the Harvard defense.

In the past two games--against the University of Massachusetts and Holy Cross--the Harvard defense has given up 80 points. In the past two games, the Crimson has lost. Badly.

Is there, perhaps, a correlation between giving up 40 points a game and losing? And what, if anything, can be done to stop the slide?

But first, why the problems?

"There was no veteran status in the secondary or in the linebacking corps," Clemens says. "We're going through some growing pains."

The linebackers, Brian Burns and Greg Ubert, both played on the varsity last year, but neither started. In the secondary, only safety Jim Smith saw much action last year, getting his first start against Holy Cross in the eighth week of the season.

Simply Red

Injuries, too, have worked to impede the Crimson's defensive progress. Sophomore cornerback Chris Rezendes, suffering from a hip injury, had to sit out last week's game. Adjuster Bobby Frame and middle guard Tom McConnell, both with knee injuries, will miss today's contest.

"We certainly have high expectations," Clemens says, "but we've been struggling with some injuries in the secondary. And we sorely miss Tom McConnell. We miss his leadership."

In defense of the Crimson's defense, UMass and Holy Cross field high-powered offenses. UMass lit up the Crimson for 45 points, but the Minutemen had done the same to Maine two weeks earlier.

In Jeff Wiley, Holy Cross has one of the best quarterbacks in Division I-AA. Wiley had a career day against Harvard, completing a school-record 31 passes.

Red Scare

Compared with those games, today's contest with Cornell will seem if not easy, then at least manageable.

"We're getting better," Clemens says. "[Playing UMass and Holy Cross] was a real learning experience."

Harvard's task today will be to stop Cornell's quarterbacking duo of Aaron Sumida and Dave Dase.

"With Sumida starting, they've leaned on the run," Clemens says. "They do throw the ball, but not 52 times like Holy Cross. I would expect if Dase plays against us, we're going to see the pass more."

Perhaps UMass and Holy Cross, which field scholarship athletes and practice during the spring, were not fair tests for the Crimson defense. Today's game against Cornell will show how much the Harvard defense has grown and how much it has left to learn.