Senior safety Jeff Compas, who started the most games in Harvard history (39), joined Smith on the second defense. Comp finished second all-time in Harvard interceptions (14). Although he got his mitts on a lot of passes, he could never get the one he needed to tie the record. Still, he was the leader in the defensive backfield and ended as Harvard's second all-time tackler.

The coaches voted senior tackle Chris Schaefer and junior corner Glenn Jackson onto the Honorable Mention defense. Schaefer's selection proves that you could have put Harvard's entire d-line on the first team and not have been far off.

Jackson led Harvard in interceptions with six and helped key the secondary's outstanding play in the Ivy League. Sophomore safety Aron Natale missed a few games, which dropped him out of contention for All-Ivy honors, but he played to that standard when he was in.

Some other players got left off who deserved to make it. Skelton ended his career last Saturday as Harvard's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, punt returns, and punt return yards. And at least a couple of Birk's fellow o-linemen should have been on the list.

Still, it's not a bad haul for Harvard. When half of your starters are named to one of the All-Ivy teams, it's pretty obvious that you had a lot of talent.

And directing these players was Murphy, who finally had a team composed solely of his recruits. The skipper had the golden touch this year; it was amazing to watch his third-and fourth-down playcalls work again and again. Harvard's dramatic turnaround resulted in his being named New England Division I Coach of the Year.

But it wasn't just talent that made this team special. It was the way the talent meshed. When that happened, the rest of the League didn't have a chance. After all, you can't mess with fate.