NOTEBOOK: Football Wins Despite Defensive Inconsistencies

­Last Saturday in Providence, R.I. was a perfect day for football—close to 70 degrees and slightly breezy. It was not, however, a perfect day for Harvard football.

Although the Crimson eventually pushed past Brown, 32-22, the visitors failed to score in the first and fourth quarters and made plenty of mistakes in between. The Bears held a 3-0 lead for much of the opening period and came a single two-point conversion away from forcing a single-possession game in the final four minutes of the contest.

Decisive the game may not have been. But in Ivy League standings, just as in football standings everywhere, a pretty win counts as much as an ugly one.

SECONDARY IS SECONDARY

The premier matchup in Saturday’s contest pitted Brown wide receiver Alexander Jette against Harvard captain Sean Ahern. In 2015, both players made the All-Ivy first team for the second time in their careers, setting up this 2016 showdown as a clash of titans.

Ahern and Jette did in fact square off throughout the contest, but by the end of the afternoon, a larger battle has seized the headlines: the Crimson secondary versus the Bears receiving corps.

In the final 30 minutes, Brown quarterback Kyle Moreno torched Harvard for 208 yards and two touchdowns. However, he also threw two interceptions during the half.

“With the interceptions, it’s always nice to get off the field and kind of shift the momentum,” senior safety Kolbi Brown said. “But we definitely have a lot to work on as a secondary unit.”

Frequently targeted was sophomore defensive back Wesley Ogsbury. Normally a second-teamer, Ogsbury came in for senior Raishau McGhee and struggled at times: On one third down in the third quarter, he slipped on the grass, allowing Jette to scamper to a 36-yard gain.

Yet Ogsbury atoned for his mistakes when, with eight minutes to play, he picked off Moreno near midfield and ran down the Harvard sideline in celebration.

The defensive back’s checkered afternoon mirrored that of the rest of his teammates. On one hand, junior defensive back Tanner Lee and Brown both grabbed picks. On the other hand, Bears receiver Troy Doles broke free for a pair of wide-open scores. Even Ahern had a moment of weakness when senior wideout Garrett Swanky out-leapt him in the end zone for a late score.

“I think we did well besides a couple coverage busts, which is the reason behind the large amount of passing yards,” Lee said. “I think we played well as a unit.”

SEE MORE OF SEMAR

As a team, Brown accumulated 54 rushing yards; as an individual, Harvard running back Semar Smith eclipsed that mark in one half of play.

By the time all the dust had settled, the junior had accumulated 89 yards on 22 attempts and settled the question of who would lead the Crimson’s rushing attack.

He ran with force throughout the game, bowling over defenders. That physicality awarded him two touchdowns, one to get Harvard on the board in the second quarter and one to put the visitors out of reach in the third. Smith topped a ground game that netted 189 yards on 43 rushing attempts. Senior quarterback Joe Viviano accounted for 76 of those yards, while sophomore Noah Reimers, the only other back to take a handoff, ended with zero yards.

Last season’s running back Paul Stanton Jr. ended a three-year reign of dominance with an 809-yard season, but besides a legacy of 38 touchdowns, he left behind the question of who would succeed him. Both Reimers and Smith had shown moments of potential, and sophomore rusher Charlie Booker also entered the mix.

But after two games, it appears that Smith has seized the starting job for good—or at least until fate or coach Tim Murphy intervenes.

“He’s our best back,” Murphy said. “He’s a really good football player.... Obviously he’s a guy that’s hard to take out of the game when he’s playing so well.”

POOR RICH

As Smith’s star rose, left tackle Max Rich watched his own come crashing into Earth.

One of two returning starters on the offensive line, Rich entered preseason with a task as large as his 6’7” frame: replacing the hole left by the graduation of Anthony Fabiano, Adam Redmond, and Cole Toner. All three of those players had led a dominant Crimson line and later signed contracts with NFL teams.

Early in Saturday’s game, Rich was performing well, yielding no sacks and opening up large holes for Smith. But after one goal-line play, he remained on the ground for a few seconds, eventually willing himself off the field. He didn’t reappear for the rest of the game.

“Max said he could play,” Murphy said. “Sports med[icine] held him out, and that’s all that matters. If they think he should be out, then he’s out.”

To compensate for the absence, Harvard trotted out a few different offensive line combinations. Sophomore Ben Shoults took some snaps at center, but no look worked perfectly. Midway through the fourth, Viviano took two sacks in three snaps, leading to the Crimson’s second three-and-out of the afternoon.

Rich’s absence was likely temporary, however. At the end of the game, Murphy stressed that Rich hadn’t gone through the full medical protocol but expressed confidence that the senior could return for this Friday’s contest against Georgetown.

“From his demeanor, I would say he has a good chance of playing next week,” Murphy said. “Anytime you get a [replacement] that’s never really played in there at left tackle, which is a premier position, it’s a challenge.”

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