Athlete of the Week: Isaiah Kacyvenski

Senior linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski earned Athlete of the Week thanks to his history-making performance against Columbia on Saturday.

Kacyvenski was the leader of a defense that shut out the Lions for the final 56:08 of the game, which Harvard (1-0, 1-0 Ivy) won 24-7.

His 14 tackles included a stop of Columbia running back Johnathan Reese for no gain on first-and-goal at the Harvard 3. The Crimson went on to force a turnover on fourth-and-goal, the exclamation point on a fantastic day.

Kacyvenski's most important play was his first-quarter interception of Mark Stoutenberg with Harvard trailing 7-0 and down after botching first-and-goal at the Columbia one-yard line.

The game seemed to be slipping away, but thanks to Kacyvenski's pick, Harvard stormed back with touchdowns on consecutive possessions to take a 14-7 lead.

Kacyvenski also recovered a fumble in the third quarter, and Harvard marched down the field for its third touchdown.

As impressive as Kacyvenski's performance was his ability to play with pain. He cramped up in the second half and was limping around the field. After a collision with junior safety Mark Brooks, which ended with both players requiring attention, Kacyvenski returned to the field.

Kacyvenski's 14 tackles weren't his highest total--he had 17 three games ago--but they were just what he needed to pass Joe Azelby '84 as Harvard's leading career tackler.

Azelby, who went on to play for the Buffalo Bills, had 273 career tackles, and Kacyvenski now has 274 with nine games to go. Kacyvenski already owns the single-season tackle record, 108, which he set last year.

His big plays and his milestone made choosing Isaiah Kacyvenski as Athlete of the Week easy.