Reserving Judgement

"It's never as bad as it seems, and never as good as it seems."

Harvard coach Tim Murphy's opening comments at his post-rout press conference had a strangely Zen sound to them-particularly after his Crimson had roughed up a Lions squad that looked like it had arrived straight from the late 1980s.

Was Murphy just being falsely modest after Harvard tallied almost 500 yards of total offense and its highest point total in seven seasons during the 45-7 debacle? Or was he picking up on some palpable weaknesses obscured by the laughable numbers on the scoreboard?

To be sure, it takes some nit-picking to find fault with the play of tailbacks junior Troy Jones, sophomore Chris Menick and freshman Chuck Nwokocha. It's also difficult to argue with the way the offensive line bullied a Lions defensive front sapped by the departures of All-Ivy perennials Marcellus Wiley and Rory Wilfork.

And it's hard to argue with the typically stingy run defense of sophomore linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski and senior defensive ends Chris Smith, Tim Fleiszer and company which limited Jason Bivens and the Columbia backfield to 46 net yards on the ground.

But what Murphy called "...a lot of work ahead of us" was easy to overlook in a matchup whose second half rivalled your average Ec 10 lecture for nail-biting suspense.

Take, for example, the on-again, off-again passing game of sophomore quarterback Rich Linden. Much praised-and deservedly so-for decision-making ability beyond his years in the starter's slot last season, Linden had some rocky moments in the pocket on Saturday afternoon.

Linden finished with three touchdowns and two interceptions, but several times aimed unsuccessfully at receivers in traffic. "It took a while to get going. There were some good plays, but we also made some foolish plays," Linden said. "I forced the ball into coverage a couple of times."

Credit Linden nonetheless for his excellent mobility from under center and for running rollout passes and options effectively throughout the game, as well as for a gutsy 19 yard carry on a third-and-eight draw play from the shotgun that sparked the Crimson's first scoring drive. But consider the kinks still evident in the passing game.

Linden's first interception, at the end of the first quarter, came with the Crimson driving for its third touchdown of the young game.

On third-and-six from the Columbia 10, Linden found senior flanker Jared Chupaila cutting toward the middle, but the ball popped free and Columbia safety Chris Tillotson grabbed the loose ball to stall the offense. Linden's second interception came on a badly over-thrown ball for junior tight end Chris Eitzmann.

More dropped balls by junior fullback Damon Jones and senior wideout Colby Skelton also plagued the air attack. "We did a pretty poor job of catching the football," Murphy said.

And from Troy Jones's perspective, it's difficult to gripe about Saturday's results. Returned from injuries which marred his first two seasons with the Crimson, Jones made his case for the starter's job with a 19-carry, 100-yard renaissance.

Jones's two rushing touchdowns, however, were accompanied by two more that didn't count-one a sparkling 93-yard kickoff return called back for holding (one of eight Harvard penalties good for 74 yards).

"Anytime you get a touchdown called back on a kickoff return, it shows a lack of discipline," Murphy said. "You never block behind the ball, and we had talked about that as recently as [Friday]."

What enabled the Crimson to endure mental errors and occasional sloppy play to post its most lopsided win since its Ivy championship campaign of 1987? Give the nod to a defensive unit that pressured hapless Columbia quarterback Bobby Thomasson into three interceptions-two by junior corner Glenn Jackson-and a 9-of-26 afternoon.

Working on a short field for much of the first half, Harvard cashed in on four Columbia turnovers to put the contest out of reach by the second quarter. "Our defense gave us great field position," Murphy said. "You can score 45 points and not have a great offensive day. We had a good offensive day but we didn't have a great offensive day."

What's the significance of Murphy's guarded enthusiasm for the Crimson's cakewalk? Perhaps it's the vision of a coach who recognizes what the box score doesn't necessarily reflect: that Harvard has enormous offensive potential it has yet to exploit.

While defense and a grinding running game have been Murphy's hallmarks, Saturday's win provided glimpses of a flashier, almost quick-strike offense. Troy Jones's consistent quickness through the gaping holes opened up by the offensive line and the rookie Nwokocha's open-field explosiveness are decidedly new looks for the ground game.

The presence of Eitzmann, Linden's target on a first-quarter 55-yard scoring strike over the middle, and sophomore flanker Terence Patterson-whose 44-yard reverse set up a second-quarter Crimson score-suggest a big-play dimension to the offense untapped in seasons past.

"The last couple of years, we've had to fight, scratch and claw for 16-play drives to get a touchdown," Murphy said. "Now... I wouldn't say we're a quick-strike offense, but we're more capable of being that than we have in the past."

Perhaps Murphy's evenhanded, reflective assessment of a team that looked like it hadn't ever heard of any Harvard Stadium jinx was on target after all. Yes, the Crimson made mistakes in Saturday's opener, but they also showed flashes of what might be even better things to come.