144.
It is one of those numbers you learn early on in life, its square root being 12. It is also the average speed of wafted ball in a jai alai match, the average number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie roll pop and the average poundage of food wasted on a Wednesday in any given Harvard dining hall.
But this morning, when members of Harvard's football team (1-0) muse over the symmetrical beauty and uncanny significance of that number, their minds will be on the gridiron. For that number may well represent the margin between victory and defeat in this afternoon's football game with Bucknell (1-1), the first home test for the Tim Murphy coaching staff.
OK, all that may be overstating it a bit. But only slightly.
144 pounds is the weight of sophomore Rich Lemon, the Bisons' star running back and key offensive weapon. Listed at 5'8" in the program, Lemon is well on his way to being the best running back in Bucknell history. He has rushed for 100 yards six games in a row, placing him fourth on the school's record list. Last weekend, he almost single-handedly destroyed Southern Connecticut, rushing for 171 yards on 22 carries in a 32-7 Bucknell win.
He, far more than any other member of the Bison team, separates the Crimson from a 2-0 record.
"He is very, very important to our offense," Bucknell coach Lou Maranzara said. "He's a very hard runner who isn't afraid run right over you."
"Run right over you?" At 144 pounds? Don't bet against it. First, Lemon has the stats to prove that he can do it. And second, the Crimson defense has the stats to prove that he can do it.
Harvard is coming off of a 39-32 comeback win over traditionally lowly Columbia. In the game, Harvard's offense was stellar, putting up one of its best performances of the last few years. Paced by quarterback Vin Ferrara (22-32 for 245 yards passing), the Crimson "O" executed its perimeter-bashing gameplan perfectly, racking up 424 yards total offense along the way.
The team defense, however, was another story. Harvard's defense came into the game hoping to stop the run. It failed miserably in the attempt, allowing 223 yards on the ground to the lowly Lions, along with 174 yards through the air. At one point in the game, the Columbia running attack appeared unstoppable: it scored on three straight possessions to nullify an 18-point Crimson lead in the second half. "There is no doubt, going into the season, that defense will be the key for us," Murphy said. "We're small and we lost a lot of players from last season. In close games, defense will be even more important." Today's game is likely to be one of those "close games." Harvard goes into the game a seven-point favorite. Bucknell's defense--more-than-adequate in holding down a sub-par Southern Connecticut last weekend--should give the Crimson's multiple-pro-set offense more of a challenge than Columbia's young corps did. If Harvard yields 32 points again, it is likely to end up in the losing column. "We know we won't be able to allow that many points in future games," Murphy said after the Columbia game. "We will have to improve. "Of course we will still have a long way to go as a program," he added. "We won a football game today, and we're going to go out and try to win one next week. But we're the first ones to admit that we have tremendous room for improvement in all areas." Game Notes: Gametime for today's match-up is 1 p.m...the Bison return 14 starters from a 4-7 team last season...they finished with a 3-2 record in the Patriot League...Lemon rushed for 1151 yards on 212 carries last season...Bucknell is located in Lewisburg, Penn..... The Bison have the same helmet logo as the Buffalo Bills did when O.J. Simpson played for them...Bucknell University has 3,400 students...Maranzana is in his sixth season with the team (21-32)...Harvard leads the series with Bucknell, 3-1-1... The Crimson last beat the Bison in 1987 (33-14), the year Harvard won the Ivy League championship...Bucknell last beat the Crimson in 1964 (24-21), the year of the Civil Rights Act and the first full year of the Johnson administration...144 is divisible by six 24 times.
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