ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Williams Sparks Surge on ‘D’

Maybe it had something to do with playing under the lights for the first time since high school, or maybe it had to do with playing on the opposite side of a preseason All-American. But whatever it was, senior cornerback Steve Williams rose to the occasion in the second half of Harvard football’s first-ever night game, a 24-17 win over Brown on Saturday night.

A week after the secondary got shredded in a 31-28 loss to Holy Cross, the Crimson defense was poised to turn things around for its Ivy opener.

The Bears were coming off an easy 28-17 victory against Duquesne last week, one in which the Brown offense didn’t even show much beyond the basics of their playbook.

“They didn’t run their whole repertoire, so it was pretty basic of what we saw in the one film we had,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said of Brown’s first-week performance.

With the Bears and the Crimson trading scores on their way to 38 combined points at halftime, the rest of the game appeared as if it would continue to be an offensive showdown.

After the midway break, however, Harvard’s defense showed its ability in stopping a Brown offense that had racked up 17 points and over 200 yards in the first half.

In fact, in eight second-half tries, Brown managed just four punts, three interceptions, and a missed field goal. Two of the picks went to Williams, who also ended the game with three tackles and two pass breakups. Williams earned Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts.

But after the game, he was quick to give credit to the rest of Harvard’s defensive staff, which was able to make some adjustments and come up with a new scheme for foiling the Brown passing attack.

“I attribute that to Coach [Kevin] Doherty, his calls put me in the right position,” Williams said. “Our secondary as a whole, when you play opposite a preseason All-American, you get a lot more throws your way.”

The throws intended to test Williams—thanks in part to a highly experienced secondary at every position—resulted in more chances to make big plays. Williams capped the solid defensive effort that shut out Brown’s offense in the second half, allowing Harvard to win its Ivy League opener and even its overall record at 1-1.

The first interception came at the beginning of the fourth quarter, with the Bears driving deep into Harvard territory. On a long third-and-16, Williams stopped the threat of a Brown score by picking off a pass at the Harvard six-yard-line, preventing a potential lead change.

The second interception came with under three minutes left in the game. After the Bears completed two quick strikes to begin the drive, Williams nearly intercepted the next pass from Brown quarterback Michael Dougherty. On the ensuing play, Williams stopped the drive with his second pick of the game. Minutes later, the Crimson wrapped up its first victory of the year, in front of 18,898 fans under the lights at Harvard Stadium.

After the game, as usual, the focus of Williams’ words was not himself, but rather his teammates.

“Our safeties were flying all over the place,” Williams said. “By virtue of the fact that everyone else was playing so well, I was kind of unfortunately the weakest link, and I just had a few lucky tosses my way.”

It was the halftime adjustments by the coaches, Murphy said, that allowed Williams and the defense to clamp down in the final two quarters.

“I think our defensive staff really did an outstanding job, and that’s our history, we do a pretty good job of finding out what they do best and then trying to take it away from them,” Murphy said. “We made it tougher to throw the ball.”

For Williams, a second-team All-Ivy selection a year ago, he’s getting used to making it tougher for opposing quarterbacks to throw the ball.

“If you want your star treatment,” Williams said, “you have to give star performances.”