Crimson Seeking Redemption in Hanover

No. 22 Harvard looks to rebound from its first loss of the season as it takes on Dartmouth at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, in Hanover, N.H.

Last Saturday, the Crimson fell, 31-28, in a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of No. 12 Princeton, ending its undefeated season and nine-game winning streak, as well as diminishing its chances for the Ivy League title.

“The bus ride home [from Princeton] is as tough as it gets,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said.

But the Crimson (5-1, 2-1 Ivy) can’t afford to dwell on the loss, as it prepares for a Big Green (1-5, 1-2 Ivy) team that is riding some momentum coming off of a victory against Columbia, its first of the season.

“Having a win and getting out of that ‘0-for’ column was a plus,” Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens said. “We’ve improved as a team.”

Murphy is well aware of this contest’s potential to be a trap game, and is making sure that his team is not taking the Big Green lightly.

“Dartmouth always plays us tough,” Murphy said. “Right now in our league, there are no bad teams. If you don’t come to play, if you’re not healthy, if you make mistakes, then you’re not going to win.”

Harvard’s offensive game plan for this week is going to have a slightly different feel with junior quarterback Liam O’Hagan returning to the starting lineup.

O’Hagan served the last game of his five-game suspension two weeks ago against Lafayette and then replaced junior Chris Pizzotti to start the second quarter of the Princeton game. His presence adds a new dimension to an already multi-faceted Crimson offense, posing a danger to defenses through the air as well as on the ground.

Versus the Tigers, O’Hagan threw for 168 yards with a touchdown and two late interceptions while also gaining 89 rushing yards on 10 carries, leading the team in both rushing and passing.

Harvard’s offense will also feature senior running back Clifton Dawson. With his two rushing touchdowns against Princeton, Dawson moved into sole possession of the Ivy League career rushing touchdown record. All that’s left for him is Cornell’s Ed Marinaro’s mark of 4,715 rushing yards, which Dawson needs 337 yards to tie.

O’Hagan and Dawson are just two of the many weapons that the Big Green’s defense will have to contend with tomorrow.

“There are so many different ways they can hurt you,” Teevens said. “We need to be as sound as we can be. We need to tackle well and from an offensive standpoint we need to keep them off the field.”

Dartmouth quarterback Mike Fritz will be looking to do just that. Fritz, like O’Hagan, is a dual threat, leading the team with 955 passing yards and 316 rushing yards.

His versatility will be tested by Harvard’s pass rush, statistically the best in Division I-AA with 5.5 sacks per game.

Perhaps the most compelling matchup of the game is the one between the head coaches. Murphy and Teevens have a long history, dating back to their playing days at Silver Lake High School in Kingston, Mass., where the two were teammates.

The duo went on to serve as assistant coaches together at Boston University from 1982 to 1984, and when Teevens was named the head coach at Maine in 1985, he brought Murphy with him. In 1987, Murphy succeeded Teevens as head coach of the Black Bears.

While the two acknowledge a strong friendship, neither lets it get in the way come game time.

“We go back many, many years,” Teevens said. “[Murphy is] a wonderful person and a wonderful friend. We talk regularly through the course of the year, but not so much this week.”

“We’re friends 364 days of the year, and we both think of ourselves as fierce competitors,” Murphy added. “In some ways, it’s bittersweet if you win and bittersweet if you lose. I’d rather be the bittersweet if you win.”

And a win is precisely what the Crimson needs. While Harvard is by no means out of the race for the Ivy championship, the Crimson must go undefeated for the remainder of the season and receive some help, in the form of Princeton losses, if a league title is still to be a possibility.

“We really believe we’re in the thick of this thing—that the race has just begun,” Murphy said. “We no longer have control of our own destiny, but we’ve got to control what we can control. And that’s finding a way to beat Dartmouth.”