Harvard football Coach Tim Murphy faced a tough decision at the start of the 1999 campaign, choosing between three-year starting quarterback Rich Linden '00 and his three-year backup, Brad Wilford '00.

Fast-forward a year to fall 2000 and there is little doubt Murphy would be more than happy to be faced with the same situation again.

Murphy has gone from deciding between two veteran quarterbacks, both of whom hold school passing records, to looking for a healthy body to start opening weekend.

"It's far from an ideal situation at quarterback," Murphy said. "Injuries have complicated the situation and seriously cut into practice time. It's simply a situation we have to deal with as best we can."

During the off-season, Murphy expected to hold a competition between junior Neil Rose, sophomores Kris Hopkins and Barry Wahlberg and freshman Conor Black. But Hopkins suffered a potentially career-ending injury and the other three quarterbacks have all spent some time this preseason sidelined with injuries, leaving sophomore J.C. Harrington, a walk-on in 1999, as the only completely healthy choice in camp.

Both Rose (hamstring) and Wahlberg (knee) recuperated enough to resume practicing this week and will share the quarterbacking duties tomorrow.

"The only one who couldn't start because of an injury is Conor Black," Murphy said.

But with only Rose having thrown a varsity pass, the group was inexperienced to begin with. Now, the Crimson will face Holy Cross without a single quarterback who had the benefit of a full preseason.

"With three excellent wide receivers on the roster, I had hoped to use a more sophisticated, wide-open offense," Murphy said. "But injuries have left us concerned about the quarterback position and now we're going to have to simplify the package to accommodate their lack of practice time."

Injuries aside, Murphy will eventually have a decision to make on the long-term starter for the Crimson. The top two candidates for that position now appear to be Rose and Wahlberg.

Whichever quarterback is healthier will likely determine playing time tomorrow, but the one who can produce on the field will ultimately keep the starting job.

"If both Neil and Barry are healthy, then they'll each get a chance to play," Murphy said. "Whoever is able to drive the offense better is going to get the job."

Murphy's quarterback headaches began around mid-August. At that time, Rose was the projected starter, while Hopkins and Wahlberg were second and third on the depth chart, respectively.

"About two weeks before camp opened, I got a call from Hopkins' dad," Murphy said. "He called to report that Kris had sustained a serious shoulder injury and would need to be redshirted this season."

With the No. 2 quarterback gone for the season, Rose's job as the starter looked a little more secure until lightning struck for the second and third times.