Reflecting on the brutal domination of the Ivy League that Harvard football has exhibited, it would be easy to point to any number of skill players who have enjoyed breakout years.

The Crimson offense has thrived thanks to sophomore tailback Chris Menick's bruising off-tackle carries, sophomore quarterback Rich Linden's gutsy scrambles and third-down completions and sophomore flanker Terence Patterson's reverses.

But behind, or should we say, in front of, everything the vaunted Crimson offense has accomplished stand some lesser-known but equally crucial players.

Matt Birk. Mike Shreve. Dean Jacobson. Glen Warner. Alex Garcia. Dave Elliott. Maybe you don't recognize their 50- or 70-something uniform numbers, but their jerseys are the dirtiest and their bodies the sorest at the end of the day.

These certainly are not the most obvious names one might choose to headline a portrait of Harvard's most highly-touted team in a decade, but the line has enabled every big play the more glamorous players have made in 1997.

Just as John Riggins had his Hogs and Phil Simms and Ottis Anderson had their Jumbo Elliott and William Roberts, Linden and Menick thrive on the presence of their men up front.

But the offensive line didn't come into 1997 fully-intact the way its counterparts on the defense--seniors Chris Smith, Jason Hughes, Tim Fleiszer, Chris Schaefer and Brendan Bibro--did. Although it returned as starters seniors Birk and Elliott and junior Shreve, the loss of last year's captain Sean Riley at tackle and Rob Jungerhans at center meant some fairly significant realignments were necessary.

Elliott, a career-long guard, was switched to Riley's position at tackle, a newly relevant spot with the coaching staff's emphasis on slant running and the off-tackle game.

"When I switched to tackle, the major difference was pass-blocking," Elliott said.

"At guard I was used to working with the center, and now I'm on my own, and the defensive lineman is much further out. And since we run counters and slants, at tackle we have to work at out-leveraging the defensive line."

The Crimson filled Elliott's position at guard with a rotation of Warner and Garcia and inserted Jacobson at center after an injury to junior backup center Will Ratcliffe.

"The line had a lot of injuries and a lot of people moved around, but we didn't really lose out," Shreve said. "Dean Jacobson, Alex Garcia and Glen Warner stepped into the new alignment and played great."

Potentially, the most significant loss could have been captain and tackle Sean Riley. A moral leader of the line, his loss would have been sharply felt were it not for the stewardship Birk assumed at the other end of the line.

"Matt Birk is the anchor of the line," Menick said. "He's got tremendous ability, tremendous experience and he's a very hard-nosed football player."

The key to Harvard's offensive juggernaut, however, is the fact that the line weathered the personnel changes and became better. The returning starters have jelled with the new arrivals and have combined to form a coherent blocking unit.