A Stake in History

Heavy rests the crown for the 2016 Harvard football team.

After two decades of steady success and three especially acute years of dominance, the Crimson confronts a question common to all victors: What next?

Having won its last 15 road games, what land remains to be conquered? Having hoisted three straight league titles, what opponents remain to be vanquished?

No longer do Harvard players need to grab top-dog status; that happened in 2013, with the first Ivy League title.

Nor do they need to thwart criticisms of being a fluke success; that happened in 2014, with the second Ivy League title.

Nor do they need to buck odds and establish a dynasty; that happened in 2015, with the third Ivy League title.

Under the guidance of coach Tim Murphy, the Crimson has skipped from victory to victory, scoring at least 10 points in the last 62 games. Again in 2016 media pundits picked Harvard to top the Ancient Eight. But in its wake, the Crimson has left a trail of embittered opponents, all of them salivating at a chance for revenge.

Heavy rests the crown.

“We’re everybody’s rival,” Murphy said. “Everybody hates our guts. Because of that, you can never, ever, ever take anyone for granted.”

The crown weighs especially on senior Joe Viviano, anointed quarterback of Harvard’s offense.

He’s a large guy—6’5”, 220 pounds—but for three years, his stat line could fit into a fortune cookie. One pass thrown. No completions. No starts.

Last Friday rejiggered those numbers, as Viviano got the nod against Rhode Island and went 24-for-32 and 290 yards. Most noticeably, he scrambled for 51 yards—an upgrade over his solid but physically unexceptional predecessor, Scott Hosch.

Still, one battle doesn’t win a war. As a freshman, Viviano entered campus as the 51st quarterback in the nation according to ESPN. He carried heavy expectations, and four years later, those expectations linger.

A season ago, Viviano nearly won the first-string job in training camp before breaking his foot. Now the undisputed starter, he will try to exhibit the playmaking ability and cannon arm that attracted Murphy and other scouts.

It is a case of ability without experience, power without comfort. And there are no dry runs.

“I believe 100 percent in him,” captain Sean Ahern said. “He’s definitely ready.”

Similarly crucial is Ahern, a defensive back. He’s a fifth-year senior who plays like a fifth-year senior—calmly, quickly, and with physical dominance.

In the last two seasons, he has matched up against some of toughest opposing receivers and emerged both times as a member of the All-Ivy first team. Also a key special-teamer (he co-led the Ancient Eight with two blocked kicks last year), Ahern sets the temperament of the defense. He is the anchor, connecting Harvard to past seasons of defensive excellence.

“Sean’s a potential All-American,” Murphy said. “He’s one of the best corners we’ve ever had.”

Viviano and Ahern comprise two small parts of a larger team, one in which all players shoulder the duty of defending the Crimson’s dominion.

As a program, Harvard preaches a next-man-up philosophy—that no personnel loss is absolute because replacements always wait in the wings. Following the graduation of 15 starters and fourteen All-Ivy players, 2016 marks a test of this philosophy. The next man truly is up.

“Whatever our talent level is, that’s something we have no control over,” Murphy said. “But we can control what our character is. That’s what we hang our hat on.”

Last year, running back Paul Stanton Jr. capped off a historic career with an 809-yard season; this year rushers Semar Smith (junior), Charlie Booker (sophomore), and possibly others will share snaps. The by-committee approach worked against the Rams, as Harvard churned out 244 yards on the ground. But the deceptively physical Stanton will be missed when competing against Ivy League defensive lines.

Last year, the Crimson handled such defensive lines by trotting out senior offensive linemen Anthony Fabiano, Adam Redmond, and Cole Toner, all of whom signed NFL contracts at the end of the season; this year Harvard features less muscle and more youth upfront. While senior Max Rich and junior Larry Allen, Jr. provide some consistency, growing pains are inevitable.

A trio of seniors also staffed the linebacker unit during last year’s campaign, leading a defense that allowed a nation-low 84.4 rushing yards per contest; this year a number of fresh faces—especially juniors Luke Hutton and Chase Guillory—man the position. And the unit only got younger a week-and-a-half ago when senior Eric Ryan tore his meniscus, forcing the stalwart out of the lineup for the foreseeable future.

“We had a ton of huge parts of our defense graduate,” Ryan said. “A lot of young guys [are] filling the voids…. It’s been a huge preseason. We’ve been all in as a team.”

Amidst this roster transformation, it’s easy to overlook what remains the same. Two names stand out in particular: senior tight end Anthony Firkser and sophomore wideout Justice Shelton-Mosley.

Three of the Crimson’s last four tight ends have caught on as professional players, and Firkser has the potential to continue this trend. He’s a 230-pound race car with leather-soft hands.

Meanwhile, Shelton-Mosley is fast, period. Harvard freshmen rarely see significant game action, but last year the Sacramento, Ca. native totaled 1,140 yards and returned punts, including one for a score. Against Rhode Island, the game plan targeted Shelton-Mosley early and often, resulting in nine catches.

Both receiving threats eclipsed 100 yards that Friday night, perhaps prefiguring a season of a two-pronged aerial attack.

More than players, what remains the same are the fundamentals of the program. Wake up early and work hard. Exhibit character. And never, under any circumstances, let go of the ball.

That final commandment lays at the center of Harvard’s success. Murphy told the story of the 2003 Crimson, a potent offense that averaged 462 yards a game but finished 7-3 thanks to 19 turnovers. The next season, the coach abandoned all other metrics besides turnovers—and ended up finishing undefeated.

“Really the only benchmark we talk about as an offensive staff is ball security,” Murphy said. “If we have zero turnovers in every game, we will win every single game.”

These days, at the start of every season, all players receive a laminated sheet with personalized instructions for ball security. And since 2000, the team is 32-0 when not committing a turnover.

In 2016, the irony of this turnover emphasis is striking: A program that has nightmares about bad snaps and interceptions must face the greatest turnover of all—the loss of arguably the most dominant senior class of all time.

In the game of football, turnovers hurt because the ball changes possession; in the game of life, turnovers hurt because change challenges consistency.

The central question for the 2016 Crimson is whether the program can weather such a sea-shift. And there is only way to find out: by accompanying Harvard down the eight-game journey that starts at Brown on Friday, in the Ivy League season opener.

“We get everybody’s best shot,” Murphy said. “We’re going to be the team that plays the hardest every week. We’re going to be the team that is the grittiest…. It’s all about our identity as a program.”

—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.