The Promised Lande: Hero’s Role Fitz Quarterback Well

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—This was not the largest comeback sophomore Ryan Fitzpatrick has quarterbacked.

He was under center last season in the biggest comeback in 129 years of Harvard football, when the Crimson piled up 31 second-half points to preserve a chance at perfection.

The star of that game—played when Fitzpatrick was still as green as Dartmouth’s jerseys—was Carl Morris. Morris played arguably the best game of his Harvard career, and made it clear who was the leader of that Crimson comeback.

Saturday it was just as clear. The leader, however, wasn’t Morris.

“He made his share of plays, but for the most part I don’t think Carl Morris was anywhere near the reason Harvard won that football game,” said Brown coach Phil Estes. “Not to take anything away from Morris, but Fitzpatrick was the difference.”

This was not the largest comeback Ryan Fitzpatrick has quarterbacked. But it was the first of many he will lead.

Before the season began, Fitzpatrick was the heir apparent. He was the man on the sidelines, patiently waiting for the departure of Neil Rose, the most prolific quarterback in Harvard history. His time was coming, but hopefully not too soon.

“Neil is our quarterback,” Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said before the season began. “He is the straw that stirs the proverbial drink. Fitzy’s job is if Neil gets banged up, God forbid. … Fitzy’s job is in the future.”

With 7:28 remaining in the second quarter Saturday, Fitzpatrick trotted onto the field to take over for the injured Rose, and the future was here.

The future was wearing No. 14.

With Fitzpatrick taking the snaps, the Crimson took on a new personality. Though Murphy insists that “Fitzy” isn’t a running quarterback, Fitzpatrick ran wild through the porous Bear line.

With 131 yards on the ground, he became the first Harvard quarterback in a decade to reach the century mark. He actually outrushed the entire Brown team.

The quantity of yards, though, pales in comparison to the quality. Time after time, the Crimson faced third down. Time after time, on the legs of Fitzpatrick, it converted.

“I think the big difference was when he needed a first down, he could run for it,” Estes said, “and he did an outstanding job.”

After 10 straight victories with Rose at the helm of a precision air attack, the eleventh win came on the ground. It came on quarterback draws and options. It came on improvisation.

After the game, Murphy admitted that about half of Fitzpatrick’s carries came on calls that were pass plays. But Fitzpatrick had been given free reign.

“I said, ‘Fitz, go out and do whatever you need to do,’” Murphy said. “He’s got a little bit of colt in him, and I mean that in a good way. [We let him play] without a bridle, I’ll guarantee you that.”

As Murphy spoke of his young quarterback in the post-game press conference, Fitzpatrick sat two seats over, trying not to squirm too much or smile too big. His blond hair, wet with sweat, stood in every direction, and the 19-year old looked far less comfortable than he had on the field.

Whether Fitzpatrick will return to that chair in the pressroom this season is still unknown. Rose, who left the game after reaggravating a back injury, will be evaluated this week.

Make no mistake about it—if Rose is healthy he will play. Rose is ruthlessly efficient, smart and experienced, and he has been the steadying force behind Harvard’s stretch of perfection.

Rose avoids mistakes, big and small. He has thrown as many touchdowns (three) as incomplete passes. Fitzpatrick, for all his strengths, has not shown that same efficiency through the air.

Rose is the captain and the owner of this team. Rose, as Murphy said before the season started, is the present.

The future, though, was on display Saturday.

The future was tossing two touchdown passes, one off of his back foot with a lineman barreling towards him.

The future was grinding out yardage on the ground, lowering his shoulder and banging into linebackers. The future was Ryan Fitzpatrick.

And the future was bright.

—Staff writer Lande A. Spottswood can be reached at spottsw@fas.harvard.edu.