Harvard Football Opens Season Saturday at Holy Cross

Harvard Crimson (0-0) at Holy Cross Crusaders (1-1, 1-0 Patriot League)

When: Saturday, September 17th at 1:00 PM (Pregame begins at 12:30 PM)

Where: Fittin Field, Worcester, Massachusetts

Coverage: Live on 95.3 FM WHRB in the Greater Boston area, and streaming worldwide at www.whrb.org

In a series that dates back to 1904 , Harvard travels to Worcester, Massachusetts to take on a traditional cross-state foe Holy Cross. Harvard has historically had the edge over the Crusaders, leading the all-time series 39-23-2. However, recent years have been virtual standoff: neither team has managed to notch a road victory since 2005.

If the Crimson hope to break the trend, they can look back to their performance in 2010 for a set of guidelines. Last year, Harvard managed to stifle quarterback Ryan Taggert, holding the Holy Cross starter to 54 yards and an interception before he was pulled from the game. Offensively, meanwhile, the Crimson struck repeatedly through the air, as second-string quarterback Andrew Hatch (a transfer from LSU) went 20-25 for 276 yards and 3 TD's. Efforts to compensate for the loss of Gino Gordon, last year's Ivy League co-player of the year, will also be a key for the Crimson going forward: in 2010 alone, Gordon accounted for 1059 yards of rushing offense and 10 touchdowns.

WHRB's pregame coverage begins at 12:30 PM, with the Harvard Radio Pregame Show. Kickoff is at 1:00 PM, with Scott Reed and Charlie Hobbs live from Worcester, Massachusetts.

All is Calm as Murphy Begins 18th Season at Harvard

by Scott Reed
WHRB Sports
My Opinion

It's the third week of September, and for the 18th time, Tim Murphy prepares the Harvard Crimson for a season. It is a coach, and a team, outside the national spotlight, yet is a story of sustained success and integrity that merits much more hoopla than it receives. Murphy's Crimson have finished with seven or more wins in each of the last 10 years, playing an Ivy League-mandated ten game schedule, two games shorter than most college programs - and this has been sustained at one of the most academically demanding institutions in the country.

And as Harvard enters the 2011 season, the football program is at ease - this is especially impressive in this era of win-at-all-cost expectations and a need for instant and yearly success. Consider this Harvard's "Era of Good Feelings", a program experiencing peace, harmony and prosperity - shall we christen this time "Pax Harvardiana?" Success has been consistent, and rivals have been kept at bay, with Murphy winning 9 of the last 10 over the Yale Bulldogs. Although the pesky Penn Quakers are the defending Ivy champions, Harvard has given them fights and looks again to do so this year.

This has been largely because of Murphy, who, with his next eight wins will pass Joe Restic as Harvard's all-time wins leader. Yet Murphy does not simply rest on his laurels or expect that success will find him an his team: in an interview with WHRB, he spoke of the 2011 team: "I think we have a chance to be a good team...how good we are going to be is a work in progress." He spoke glowingly of his players, praising especially his quarterback, senior Collier Winters: "We're a good team when he [Winters] is on the field." Yet even less than astute observers have seen that Harvard has been good when Murphy is on the sideline.

To be sure, the Crimson program is blessed with natural recruiting advantages not bestowed upon Ivy rivals: unrivaled need-based financial aid capabilities in a league where athletic scholarships are non-existant, a location across the river from Boston, and, perhaps most importantly, is part of a larger institution that possesses the most alluring name in higher education.

Yet, many Harvard athletic programs have not flourished the way the football program has, and even the football program has seen this type of sustained success only rarely. What is more, Yale and Princeton, two programs with similar advantages to Harvard, have had difficult times of the last 5 years. Murphy, though, year after year, has produced success. And if the last ten years are any indication, Harvard will continue to experience relative peace and prosperity through 2011.


Scott Reed is the play-by-play commentator for Harvard football and mens' basketball.

Fall Fiesta Hits All the Right Notes, Harvard Men's Soccer Wins 1-0

Kudos and a job well done to Harvard Athletics on their second annual Fall Fiesta soccer game, a game where the hosts defeated Northeastern 1-0 (more on that later). Unlike last year, I was in the stands, rather than the broadcast booth, for this game, and Harvard did a great job of generating student turnout for this game. Between innovative prizes (free laundry for a year) and the promise of free Crimson Cash, t-shirts, and drawstring bags, as well as free Coke products, there was plenty to get students to come out, and stay, for the game.

The Hills Were Alive
The best feature of Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium may be its location. Sitting in the stands gives you an imposing look at Harvard Stadium, and during night games, some of the Boston skyline is also visible. But the second best feature, and the most notable tonight, are the hills behind both goals. Sort of like the old European-style terraces, the hills encourage standing and are a natural congregating spot for Harvard undergrads (particularly behind the opposition's goal in any given half.) It was from there that most of the chants originated: the standard "Let's Go Harvard," the "I Believe That We Will Win" that started at Lavietes Pavillion, the "Ole, Ole" of futbol, and even an "It's All Your Fault" transplanted from the ice of the Bright Center. Sure, one minor criticism was that the chants tended to stay on the hill, but that's because the stands were mostly the province of the freshmen, who didn't know any better. Still, the stands got more into it as the game went on, and soon every goal scoring opportunity from the Crimson was met with Harvard fans rising to their feet.

Harvard Fan Comment of the Night
"Give him a Grammy!" - guy in my section after a perceived flop by a Northeastern player. Right idea, wrong awards show.

Oh yeah, the game
On top of the atmosphere, the game on the pitch lived up to the billing. Harvard seems more comfortable in the second year of Coach Junot's system and really pressed Northeastern from the get-go. That said, Harvard lacked the clinical touch in the final third for much of the game, and the best opportunity was actually the Huskies: a diving header in the box that was turned away by star senior keeper Austin Harms. Finally, though, the Crimson benefited from a set piece and in the 83', Brian Rodgers had the ball fall to him off a corner and he slotted it in to the lower left corner of the net.

More, More
Besides the creation of the Crimson rewards program that benefits attending select games, Harvard has really done a great job in encouraging student turnout. The night football games have been such a hit that Harvard is now adding a second to the schedule. Thanks in part to their winning ways, basketball has been one of the hardest tickets to get on campus. And this year, many of the men's and women's soccer games will be played under the lights of Soldier's Field. That said, Harvard should push to have more "big events" like the Fall Fiesta. For example, a "Winter Festival" with either basketball or hockey the weekend students return for the second semester, taking advantage of the relative lack of classes and work for students during "shopping period", much as the Fall Fiesta does, as well as the continuation of the "Spring Carnival" that centers around lacrosse. Again, though, a job well done to Harvard Athletics for getting more students to events. It's a positive trend to see so many budding sports fans don their school colors.

Crimson Clicks - September 1st, 2011

News, notes, and mentions of Harvard sports in the last couple of weeks.

The New York Times features an excellent article on Ivy League football, "Year of the Quarterback in the Ivy League. " Here is an excerpt mentioning Harvard signalcaller Collier Winters:

"The Harvard senior Collier Winters beat top college quarterbacks, including Andrew Luck of Stanford and Kellen Moore of Boise State, in a passing accuracy contest in July at the Manning Passing Academy, hosted by Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning."

The article also has some quotes from Harvard head coach Tim Murphy. From the paper:

“The 2011 season has a chance to be the most competitive in a long time,” Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said in a recent conference call with reporters. “I don’t think you can look at a single team in our league that doesn’t have an all-Ivy-caliber quarterback back. That’s something I’ve never seen in my 18 years in the league.”

The Gospel Herald, a global Chinese Christian news service, has a nice write-up of former Harvard basketball star and current Golden State Warrior Jeremy Lin's trip to Taiwan.

Canada's The Sports Network writes a story on former Harvard wide receiver and kick returner Marco Iannuzzi's attempts to play football professionally in the CFL for the British Columbia Lions. B.C.'s coach, Wally Buono, had this to say in the article about Iannuzzi:

"He's worked hard in practice...We're not afraid to put him in there. I think he has certain skill sets at this point that can help us. He's done a good job on teams, he has done a good job handling part of the return game. If he gets an opportunity to be a receiver I think he will do fine."

Here are Marco's comments about his experience at Harvard:

"Once that opportunity was thrown in my direction I thought I would be a fool not to pursue it to the fullest...I knew I was so close, I couldn't live the rest of my life thinking I just about got in."

New England Hockey Journal has a post about the newest assistant coach for the Harvard men's hockey team, Jerry Forton.


Until next time, Go Crimson!