Four On The Floor

The Crimson usually selects individuals for Athlete of the Week. Otherwise, we'd call it Athletes of the Week. But in this case, we had to make an exception.

After all, it is hard to single one person out on Harvard's defense after it held Dartmouth to 225 total yards--only 50 of which were rushing--and one garbage-time touchdown in the Crimson's 20-7 win in Hanover last Saturday. Through three quarters, the Big Green had 95 total yards.

The key to Harvard's stingy defense was the defensive line, which pressured the quarterback all day and shut down the running attack with its penetration. The Crimson ended up with seven sacks, four of which were credited to junior tackle Chris Nowinski.

Senior end Artie Jones, junior end Brian Howard and junior end Mike Sands were credited with at least parts of other sacks. The Dartmouth quarterbacks combined for 20-of-37 passing in large part because of the pressure.

Nowinski had six tackles, as did captain Brendan Bibro. Six tackles is a good total for a defensive tackle because he often has to beat two blockers to get to the ballcarrier. The Big Green running game never got started because of the penetration from the defensive line. Dartmouth ended with only a 1.4 yards-per-carry average.

Defense has keyed Harvard's turnaround, and the Crimson has won 10 of its last 11 Ivy games over the past two years because of defense. If Harvard (4-3, 3-1 Ivy), which is currently in a three-way tie for first, is going to repeat as league champions, it will need more of the same from the defensive line. Because of its steady improvement and dominating play Saturday, the defensive line earned its title as The Crimson's Athletes of the Week.