Football Limps Into Saturday's Showdown

After opening up the season with a fast-paced thriller last week against Brown at home, the Harvard football team (1-0, 1-0 Ivy) gets to gather its collective breath on Saturday. The Crimson faces off against the Lafayatte Leopards (0-2, 0-1 Patriot), a Patriot League softie it beat soundly last year.

More importantly for the Crimson, the non-Ivy matchup allows several key players to rest following injuries suffered last Saturday. Josh Staph, the fifth-year senior fullback-turned-tailback who posted 152 rushing yards on Brown, still has not recovered from an ankle sprain. Star sophomore linebacker Dante Balestracci and senior defensive end Phil Scherrer are also unlikely to play against Lafayette.

Last season, Harvard spanked the Leopards, 42-19, in Easton, Pa., on the strength of senior quarterback Neil Rose’s performance. Rose threw for three touchdowns and ran in two more. And junior tailback Nick Palazzo, who made his first career start against Lafayette last year, picked up 101 rushing yards and a TD.

Since Staph remains hurt, Palazzo will get the start in the backfield.

“The ankle’s been getting better, but it’s worse than I thought,” Staph said. He expects to only miss one game.

Lafayette’s offense features few weapons. Its best player is sophomore quarterback Marko Glavic, the Patriot League’s Rookie of the Year last season. While the Leopards only gained 40 yards on the ground last week against the Quakers, freshman tailback Joe McCourt could see serious action this weekend.

The Crimson secondary will also have to watch for senior wideout Andrew May, who burned Harvard last year for two touchdowns.

“I don’t really know how good Lafayette is,” said Harvard Coach Tim Murphy, who was an assistant coach at Lafayette in 1981. “Looking at the game tape, you see the [37-0] loss to Penn, but you also see a good effort a few weeks before against Towson [a 16-13 loss].”

Despite most of the advantages being in Harvard’s favor, injuries combined with a non-Ivy opponent could still be a recipe for disaster. Murphy harped on that theme in practice this week, reminding his squad of North Carolina’s upset over top-ranked Florida State last week.

“There’s no excuse for not sustaining the enthusiasm,” Murphy said.

Harvard’s offense should be able to rack up the yards again on Lafayette. Rose had an effective outing against Brown, completing 16-of-29 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown. With Staph hurt, Rose may end up throwing more—especially to his top targets, junior wideout Carl Morris and senior Dan Farley.

Another developing situation for the Crimson this week is the backup quarterback spot. While an injury to Rose is almost unfathomable to Crimson players and fans, backups did see some action in garbage time last year.

Junior J.C. Harrington left the team before preseason and junior Barry Wahlberg chose to play baseball. Sophomore Conor Black, who spelled Rose at the end of last season and completed all four of his passes, was slated to be Rose’s backup this season.

But the sophomore quit the team this week, Murphy and Black each confirmed yesterday. That means freshman Ryan Fitzpatrick will get the nod as No. 2 in the depth chart.

If this Saturday’s game is anything like last year’s win over Lafayette, he may even get to play.