A New Regime Begins at Brown

The Harvard football team likes to pass in order to set up the run, but tomorrow at noon in Providence the Crimson will have to execute its game plan to perfection against Brown in order to get a win against the Ivy co-champion Bears.

Brown (1-0, 0-0 Ivy) cannot win the Ivy crown this year due to an offseason recruiting scandal but it does return a strong team that beat San Diego last week, 36-20.

Leading the charge offensively for Brown is senior wide receiver Stephen Campbell, who had a game-high nine catches for 89 yards in last week's victory. Campbell was named the best wide receiver in Division I-AA in a preseason poll by The Sports Network.

Campbell had 89 receptions last year, an Ivy record and he ranks 11th all-time in Division I-AA history for receptions in a single season. Campbell also averaged 110.7 receiving yards per game last year, 5th all-time in Division I-AA.

Campbell heads a very effective Brown passing attack that gained 344 yards through the air and scored three touchdowns last week against San Diego.

The Bears lost standout quarterback James Perry to graduation, but senior Eric Webber looked good in the season opener, completing 27-of-38 passes.

Complementing Brown's high-powered passing attack is an excellent running game.

Junior running back Michael Malan gained 994 yards last season, second in the Ivy League.

Against San Diego, Malan gained 183 yards rushing as the Bears gained 538 yards in total offense.

The Bears did not look as strong defensively, giving up 317 yards and two touchdowns through the air as well as an additional touchdown on the ground last Saturday.

Harvard (0-1, 0-0) is coming off a 27-25 loss to Holy Cross. In that game, Harvard committed five turnovers, three interceptions and two fumbles.

Erstwhile sophomore quarterback Barry Wahlberg, who started the opener, threw all three interceptions and was 4-of-16 passing.

Junior quarterback Neil Rose backed up Wahlberg in the second half against Holy Cross and was 7-of-9 through the air. Rose will start against Brown.

Rose will look to find his wide receivers, sophomores Carl Morris, Kyle Cremarosa, and Sean Meeker as well as junior Dan Farley downfield.

"We need to establish a high tempo passing attack that will tire their defense and set up a run game," Rose said.

One of the factors that will affect the Crimson running attack is the loss of senior running back Chuck Nwokocha to a knee injury he suffered in the first quarter against the Crusaders.

Nwokocha looks to be out for at least one month and sophomore running back Matt Leiszler will take over at tailback.

Leiszler took advantage of his opportunities against Holy Cross, rushing for 59 yards on only 9 carries including a 31-yard touchdown run at the end of the second quarter.

Nevertheless, look for Harvard to concentrate on it's passing game against Brown. Leiszler, like Nwokocha, is a small running back at 5' 8 and 170 pounds. Harvard will try to spread the defense by using lots of multiple receiver sets in order to pass the ball downfield and open up running lanes for Leiszler.

The offensive line played well last Saturday and as a veteran unit will be counted on to perform as well against Brown.

As a whole the offense has many questions to answer after its dismal performance against Holy Cross.

"The offense has to score a lot of points to make a statement that we can," said Captain Mike Clare, who anchors the offensive line at tackle. "We have the tools to score every drive we have the ball, we just have to execute like we know we can."

Defensively, Harvard will be pressured by a high scoring Brown offense. Against Holy Cross, the defense played well with the exception of a couple of plays.

Crusader sophomore quarterback Brian Hall was able to run against the Harvard offense both on option plays and on some long scrambles.

"The intensity with which the defense plays is its greatest strength right now," senior defensive tackle R.D. Kern said. "There are some assignment mistakes because we have some young players, but the intensity is definitely there."

Harvard needs to be intense and poised on defense as it goes against Brown's high-powered offense tomorrow.