Holes in O-Line

Senior quarterback Brad Wilford must have thought he was trapped in the sequel to the Blair Witch Project.

He spent the entire day running from dangers that were beyond his control in Saturday's 24-21 home loss to Colgate. The result was bad enough to make some members of the audience sick.

Wilford had the roughest start of his brief tenure, finishing 16-of-32 for 124 yards with two interceptions. Some of the problems were the result of poor decisions he made, but most of the blame rests on the shoulders of Harvard's inexperienced offensive line.

Harvard (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) returned only junior left tackle Mike Clare from last year's starting five. Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said from the beginning that although his team had the athletic ability to be a good line, it would take time, aggressiveness, and game experience before the unit could be considered a strength.

"I hope it happens by the third or fourth game of the season," said Murphy in a preseason interview.

Saturday's game showed that Murphy will have to wait a little longer before he can call the maturation process complete. The numbers imply an improvement from last week, when the Crimson gave up six sacks to Holy Cross. The numbers are wrong.

To be fair, Colgate might be the best defense Harvard faces all season. Its defensive line, which is light but extremely quick, posed unique challenges.

"Their defensive line is small, but we knew going in that they were the quickest, most athletic, and at times the most productive defensive unit we'd see," Murphy said. "We felt they were outstanding, and we had no qualms saying these guys do a great job defensively in terms of scheme and getting off blocks.

"We wore them out a bit in the second half and went to a quicker count to let our kids tee off a little bit, but they're very good," he added.

The Red Raiders featured three players who weighed 240 pounds or less and one at 259. Their most effective interior lineman, Alex Houston, weighs only 240. They were going up against a Harvard line that averages 284 pounds, but the size factor hindered Harvard as much as it helped.

"I thought our defense played exceptionally," Colgate Coach Dick Biddle said. "We have depth on defense at a lot of positions and a lot of pretty good athletes. They're undersized but keep the pressure on."

Colgate only sacked Wilford twice, but it pressured him into throwing incomplete or scrambling 13 times. Five of Wilford's completions came despite heavy pressure, usually resulting in a knockdown.

"We struggled offensively against their blitz," Murphy said. "We obviously really struggled to protect our quarterback in the first half and our running backs."

For the fifth time this year, Colgate kept its opponent below 100 yards rushing. At the half, Harvard had two net rushing yards on 16 carries. Its longest run for the half was five yards, and its longest completion was for nine yards. Wilford, throwing under duress, had nine completions for 51 yards because he did not have the time to go downfield.

Things got better in the second half, although not as much as a week ago, when the Crimson line wore down Holy Cross and helped senior running back Chris Menick gain 112 yards. Against Colgate, the unit did not tighten up until the middle of the fourth quarter. Harvard averaged only 2.8 yards per carry for the game, rushing 17 times for 91 yards in the second half.

With better protection, Wilford and Menick led Harvard's offense to touchdowns in consecutive possessions to erase a 21-7 deficit. It was all too little, too late, however. Harvard's defense was wearied after an afternoon spent fighting off Colgate's offense, which scored two easy touchdowns after Harvard threw interceptions on three consecutive third-quarter possessions, two by Wilford and one by Menick.

Colgate consistently had good field position thanks to the Crimson's offensive woes, whether a three-and-out deep in the Harvard end of the field or the interceptions. Red Raider quarterback Ryan Vena, two-time Patriot League Player of the Year, led his team down the field for the game-winning field goal as time expired, and the Crimson's fourth-quarter surge ended up just short.

The problems began early, on Harvard's second possession. Wilford had to step up in the pocket on second-and-9 to throw the ball away. Standing in his end zone on third down, he threw a ball with little chance of completion because of a free Red Raider defender stunting up the middle. The Crimson ended the first quarter by surrendering a first-down sack and punted after Wilford had to roll right and throw the ball away on third down.

On the Crimson's next possession, Houston blew into the backfield to stop a Wilford option keeper for a loss of two, then Wilford had to pull the ball down on the next two plays and scramble for his life. Harvard's next third-down conversion attempt also failed because of pressure on Wilford, and the one after that ended with a four-yard sack.

Even Harvard's second scoring drive had an inauspicious start. Wilford was pressured into a completion on the first play then scrambled after a blitz to get eight yards on third-and-6. On the next play, Wilford rolled right and was pressured into throwing a terrible pass he was lucky not to have intercepted. With a man in his face, he then had to dump the ball to a safety valve on another rollout right.

Although he threw two costly interceptions, Wilford managed to keep things together in a tough situation. The fact that the line was charged with only two sacks is a testament to his ability to get rid of the ball quickly when in trouble.

It's become apparent that Murphy made the right choice in naming him the starting quarterback. Now Murphy's got to figure out a way to make sure Wilford can survive the promotion.