This afternoon, 20,000 fans, each with his own theory about how to win football games, will fill the stadium, but Crimson head coach John Yovicsin has already decided which one he will use--his own.
Yovicsin's football philosophy has two basic characteristics, flexibility and simplicity. Each season, Yovvy custom tailors his offense and defense to the specific talents of his players. Thus as skills on the team vary from year to year, the style of play also changes annually. "I don't like to mold personnel in a preconceived approach," Yovicsin says. "My teams at Gettysburg passed the ball 75 per cent of the time. But here at Harvard, we seem to get better runners than passers. So we've run the ball."
Simplicity, the Crimson head coach has found, is basic to success since "the academic pressures here just don't give us enough time to teach complicated football." To Yovicsin, the fundamentals of good blocking and tackling are far more important than a vast repertoire of plays with hundreds of variations. If the Crimson can execute a limited number of offensive and defensive maneuvers skillfully, the coaching staff will be happy. In the Ivy League, simplicity is the key to perfection, and perfection wins ball games.
More specifically though, a team needs to score before it can win--a lesson the Crimson learned at the hands of UMass last week. What kind of offensive strategy governs Harvard's attempts to score?
Any good offense keeps the opposition's defense guessing, and off-balance. The style of attack must not drop hints as to how, when, or where it will strike next. To prevent accurate second-guessing by the defense, Harvard employs a smart quarterback who can mix up his calls and a variety of offensive formations: the regular T, the Wing T, the flanker T, the slot T, and the unbalanced T. How much each is used depends on how successful it seems to be in each game. Be watching for these alignments on the field this afternoon.
Regular T
Wing T
Flanker T
Slet T
Unbalanced T
In all the formations, except the regular T, one of the backfield men, the "flanker," stations himself just behind his own line. This secures two advantages. First, the flanker is in a better position to block than in the regular T, since he is closer to the line of scrimmage. Second, whenever the offense realigns its manpower, the defense must counter with an equal adjustment. Otherwise, the team running the ball will barrel through a spot where the opposition is undermanned. In the flanker T formation, six men are on one side of the center; the defense must make a similar six-five division, or allow a dangerous power imbalance to develop on one side.
When the defense is forced to read-just, there is a good chance for a miscalculation or a mental lapse. The Harvard offense wants to make the most of these mistakes.
So much for the formation. From these alignments, the Crimson runs only three basic play patterns: the power sweep, the "belly series," and the run-pass option.
The power sweep is Yovicsin's "bread and butter" series. In theory, it concentrates pressure at one point in the defensive wall, depending on strong running backs to make it work--a commodity which is plentiful on the Harvard squad.
The play, which can be run to the right or left side, can develop in several way. The fullback and one of the halfbacks lead the blocking by rushing at the "hole," or point of attack. After getting the snap, the quarterback can hand off or "pitch-out" to the other halfback who then tries to run through the "hole." The quarterback can also keep the ball and run it himself. If the quarterback pitches out, look for a halfback sweep around the end. If he hands off to the halfback, the play will probably go "inside," over tackle.
The belly series can also have a number of alternatives. The key man is the quarterback, who decides what's going to happen. He does not make his decision in the huddle, but only after the play has started and the defense has committed itself. After getting the snap from center, the quarterback takes a step back and thrusts the ball into the stomach of the fullback. If defenders begin to tackle the fullback, the quarterback withdraws the ball. He can then run or pass with it. On a further option, the quarterback can pitch out to a halfback, who, in turn, can try to blits around end or pass downfield.
When the belly series works, it's a thing of beauty. But success hinges on the quickness of the quarterback. He must react to the development of the defense and choose his option in a split second.
The third major series is the run-pass option. On this play, the quaterback gets the snap and "rolls out" (runs towards the sidelines) behind a wall of blockers. He can either run or throw, depending on how clear his pass receivers are. Harvard got most of its passing yardage with this play last Saturday.
In the Massachusetts' game, it was the defense that really excelled. What is the philosophy here?
Harvard uses two very similar defensive formations, the "Oklahoma" and the "eagle." In both defenses, only three of the eleven men are down in a four-point or crouched stance; the rest are on their feet. Yovicsin says this means greater pursuit power, or the ability to get tacklers to ball-carrier more quickly. As last Saturday's game showed, their success depends on alert, aggressive linebackers.
Over the season, look for more and better Harvard passing and its traditional hard running and stout defense. With a few breaks, the 1963 team could upset preseason polls quite easily.
