"It seems like Perry is a 15-year NFL veteran,"Murphy said. "He's got an outstandingly quickrelease, he knows exactly who he wants to get itto and it's very frustrating because it's nearimpossible to sack him. They are the most talentedoffensive group that I've seen in the league inthe five years I've been here."
"I have an incredible amount of confidence inSean [Morey] because I've seen him make so manyplays by now," Perry said. "He is probably thebest security blanket in the world. If my throwsare a little bit off I will get still getcompletions. Sean is on the next level, but wehave so many receivers who make plays that, on anyother team, would be an incompletion."
Typically, Brown closed out the scoring halfwaythrough the fourth quarter with a 15-yard passfrom Perry to Morey. The senior tandem had openedup the scoring the same way, when Perry foundMorey for a 16-yard touchdown pass at the end ofthe first quarter. Harvard's only scoring came inthe second quarter, with field goals of 25 and 36yards off the foot of Giampaolo.
After its first two drives of the second half,however, Harvard never regained its offensivepoise, which had netted 174 total yards in thefirst half. Junior running back Chris Menick, whoran 13 times for 38 yards, reinjured his leftankle midway through the third quarter. Withoutits star tailback and trailing by 13 points, theCrimson could not rely on the running game.
Linden led the team in rushing with 55 yards,all of which came in the first half. He spent mostof the second half on his back; he was sacked fivetimes for a loss of 34 yards. Nwokocha had a10-yard run but netted one yard on his three othercarries. Senior running back Troy Jones made hisfirst appearance of the year after a preseasoninjury and rushed twice for one yard. Juniorfullback Damon Jones also returned from apreseason injury for limited action, but he didnot touch the ball.
In addition to leading the Crimson rushingattack, Linden had a respectable afternoon throughthe air. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 147yards and no interceptions. In three trips intothe Brown red zone, however, Linden and theoffense could not reach the end zone against theaggressive Bear defense.
"We definitely had our chances but we missedsome opportunities," Linden said. "We had goodplays called and we just didn't execute, and whenwe couldn't get in the end zone early on thatchanged the complexion of the game."
Heller and sophomore receiver Matt Mitchell,who combined for 13 catches and 119 yards in placeof injured sophomore Josh Wilske, led thereceiving corps. Junior receiver Terence Pattersonhauled in three catches for 37 yards, but none ofHarvard's receivers made it into the end zone,which is unacceptable when trying to compete withBrown's high-scoring offense.
Harvard's next opponent, the Ivy League-leadingPennsylvania Quakers (6-2, 4-1), spent plenty oftime in the end zone against Brown, scoring 51points in a losing cause. Penn also scored oftenagainst Princeton Saturday, defeating the Tigers,27-14. The Crimson needs to win both of itsremaining games to claim a share of the Ivy title,which means it must be at the top of its game inPhiladelphia this Saturday.
"I'm confident that we can bounce back," Lindensaid. "I think there would be something wrong withus if we didn't. We started out 0-3 but we wonfour games straight, so we've done it before."
"Obviously we have to win against Penn," Murphysaid. "The two best teams in the league at themoment are Penn and Brown. We are going to have tojust rebound and play our best game of the yearagainst a very physical football team."
First Quarter Bro--Morey 13 pass fr. Perry (Jensen kick),1:45. Second Quarter Read more in SportsRecommended Articles
