Robert Griffin joined the Crusaders this year as quarterbacks coach. He spent 1995-98 as an assistant at Syracuse and brought the offense that made Donovan McNabb a star with him to Worcester. Murphy will not really have a chance to drill his linebackers in the finer points of that system. Rather, they will have to rely upon football instincts that have not really had a chance to develop.

"It's not the best situation to be facing," Murphy said.

The skill in Harvard's front seven last year, combined with the "Attack 8" system it plays, stifled the opposing ground game. The Crimson essentially forced offenses to pass against it if they wanted a chance to win.

Spearheaded by a strong run defense, Harvard was in contention for the Ivy Championship down to the wire. The Crimson held opposing teams to 19.1 point per game, good enough for 19th in the country.

In the second half of The Game last November, Yale finally solved the problem and neutralized the Crimson's rush defense by simply abandoning the running game. Yale handed the ball to tailback Rashad Bartholomew just once in the second half. Unfortunately for Harvard, Eli quarterback Joe Walland threw for 437 yards on the day.

Parker, Reiman and Balestracci can't afford to be just average and get the job done if Harvard hopes to stifle opposing running backs like it did last season.

"We have to show that we can still stop the run," Murphy said. "Hopefully, the secondary can step up and help fill the void, but it's definitely something we need to prove."