Seen Enough Drama?

Two years ago, it saved what may go down as the greatest season in Harvard football history. Last season, it was the only blemish on the resume of the eventual Ivy League champs.

But on the eve of this year’s Ivy League opener against Brown (1-0) on Saturday afternoon at Brown Stadium in Providence, R.I., the Crimson (1-0) has a slightly different plan in mind—win, but without the last-second drama.

“I don’t think you can roll the dice for a third time and let one of the stronger programs and teams in the league jump out on us,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “We’ve got to get off to a great start, and even that doesn’t guarantee us winning the football game.”

The first two dice-rolls against the Bears came in the previous two meetings between the teams. In 2004, the Crimson stormed back from a 31-10 halftime deficit to squeak by Brown 35-34 on its way to a 10-0 championship season, while in 2005, it was a 38-35 double overtime thriller in Harvard’s home opener that was the lone loss for the 9-1 league champs.

The differences then were that Brown was playing with running back Nick Hartigan, the 2005 Player of the Year and third-leading rusher in Ivy League history. And in ’04 and ’05, the Crimson quarterbacks were Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05 and junior Liam O’Hagan, respectively. On Saturday, Harvard will see the first start ever from sophomore quarterback Jeff Witt, and Brown will begin game two of the post-Hartigan ever. Judging from the first game, though, it may be an easier transition than originally imagined for both teams.

“Obviously, losing Hartigan is a big blow, but they seem to have found tailback by committee,” Murphy said. In the Bears’ 34-21 opening win over Georgetown last week, five backs combined for 207 yards on the ground. “They have three big, strong, fast kids that they’re kind of rotating in there by committee until they find out who’s the hot guy, but it doesn’t seem like their running game has missed a beat.”

Senior defensive tackle Mike Berg, however, is still optimistic.

“We have our gameplan we employ, so we prepare similarly for all three running backs,” Berg said. “They all have similar running styles, none of them are night and day, but all three are still very strong, very capable running backs.”

Also highly capable is senior running back Clifton Dawson, whose 170 yards last week paced the Crimson. Dawson opened up room for sophomore quarterback Jeff Witt to complete seven of 13 passes for 126 yards and a score in Harvard’s 31-14 win against Holy Cross.

“When Jeff goes in, we have touchdown drives of 61, 72, 68 and 81 yards,” Murphy said of the game. “He did a good job.”

He’ll be called on to do it again this week and for at least the next three, as former starter Chris Pizzotti’s hyperextended knee is expected to keep the junior out for at least the next three weeks.

Other than Pizzotti, though, the Crimson will be relatively healthy heading into Saturday’s game.

“We’ve been fortunate,” Murphy said in regards to the team’s injury situation. Senior right tackle Andrew Brecher is out with a broken foot, but he should return within the next few games, and in the meantime, Harvard’s depth should pay dividends.

“We have three tackles we rotate, three guards we rotate, two tight ends,” Murphy said. “We’re solid up front in terms of depth.”

And while Brown doesn’t have that kind of depth at key positions other than running back, its starters are some of the best in the league. Most notable among them is senior linebacker and preseason All-American Zak DeOssie, who ranked among the top ten nationally in four defensive categories a year ago. Through a game this season, DeOssie has already accumulated 13 tackles and a half of a sack. Add in senior quarterback Joseph DiGiacomo, who passed for 206 yards and two scores a week ago, and you have two formidable players on both sides of the ball.

“He’s one of the best quarterbacks we’ll see this year,” Berg said of DiGiacomo. “He has a great arm, he’s pretty mobile, he can run when he needs to, and we’re hoping to limit his production this year more than past years.”

Murphy agreed.

“DiGiacomo is probably the best quarterback in the league,” he said. “You throw in Zak DeOssie, who’s maybe one of the best players in the league, certainly one of the best defensive players, and they’ve got another team that’s capable of making the championship run.”

The Crimson has taken many of the steps necessary if it wants avoid another Bears championship run. The team has even gone as far as to use the grass-covered practice field—despite Harvard Stadium’s new FieldTurf—in preparation for the grass at Brown Stadium.

“We’re back on grass this week,” Murphy said. “It’s all in preparation for Brown.”

—Staff writer Malcom A. Glenn can be reached at mglenn@fas.harvard.edu.