Northeastern Defense's Methods Proved Flawed

The prevent defense was never meant to be a four-quarter strategy.

But in deference to the big-play potential of Harvard’s offense, the Northeastern secondary provided wideouts Brian Edwards, Corey Mazza and Ryan Tyler with a seven-yard cushion off the line of scrimmage from the Crimson’s first snap, though such a tactic is usually reserved for the waning moments of a blowout victory.

“I would say there are some plays along the way where we anticipated that we would have tighter coverage from our defensive secondary,” Huskies coach Rocky Hager said. “And in other places they were where we had designed them to be.”

In light of the receiving trio’s performance in recent weeks, the unorthodox scheme made a certain degree of sense. With the exception of Harvard’s soggy opener against Holy Cross, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has reduced opposing cornerbacks to little more than a nuisance with his precise downfield passes.

And no one had yet devised a plan to contain both Edwards—double covered as a standard practice—and Mazza, who has made mincemeat of his man-to-man treatment throughout his breakout season. Taking advantage of that defensive weakness, Fitzpatrick and Mazza had connected on three touchdown passes of 35 yards or more in just four games, pushing the sophomore past 100 yards receiving each time.

Not wanting to see similar strikes visited upon them, the Huskies didn’t challenge Crimson receivers at the start of their routes, ceding short passes to better defend the goal line.

In that effort, Northeastern succeeded. Fitzpatrick took far fewer chances downfield than he normally does and his receivers struggled to gain separation when he did. The longest Harvard completion of the day was just 23 yards, and even that required a brilliantly timed leaping grab from Tyler just to get his hands on the ball. The passes lofted long down the sidelines to the endzone were batted down by the Huskies’ shorter cornerbacks on every occasion.

“On film when we watched them they were playing man coverage, press, but this week they changed it up a little bit,” Edwards said. “They were five yards, seven yards off us or they’d beat up on us and then they’d bail out. And they played a lot more zone than they did man.”

But the Crimson more than adequately adjusted to capitalize. Snapping quick passes to his wide receivers and finding seams in the Northeastern zone, Fitzpatrick efficiently marched the offense the length of the field time and again, rarely risking a dangerous throw when so many safe alternatives were available.

“The philosophy of the offense today was we’re going to take what they give us,” Fitzpatrick said. “It wasn’t the usual throw a 50-yard pass, break off an 80-yard run.”

Completing 22 of his 37 passes for 206 yards—an average of 9.4 yards per catch—Fitzpatrick transformed coach Tim Murphy’s pro-set into something vaguely resembling a Harvard version of the west coast offense.

Trading in the lightning strikes that have come to typify its style for a more measured pace, the Crimson offense strung together four scoring drives of 12 plays or more, each time surpassing four minutes of possession.

In its four previous contests, Harvard had scored just once following a drive of 12 plays or more, courtesy of a Matt Schindel field goal against Holy Cross.

“They were weary of giving up that big pass play,” Fitzpatrick said. “The corners were playing very soft today, [and] they gave our receivers a lot of room and we just took those five-, six-yard gains in the air. That’s fine for us, and it’s as good as a run play on first down.”

And as the Huskies learned the hard way, a touchdown scored from inside the 15-yard line is just as good as one from beyond midfield. So by the time Northeastern defenders stopped allowing Harvard’s wide receivers to run unchecked for five yards, it was already too late.

After systematically whittling down the playing field, Fitzpatrick, in tandem with running back Clifton Dawson, punished the Huskies for their earlier retreat. The backfield duo accounted for five touchdowns—none from more than 13 yards out.

So, with another week gone by and one more possible alternative tossed out, the question remains: Just how do you stop his offense?

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.