As it was, Rose didn’t play but Harvard came back to win the game anyway.

He started the next week against Columbia, and played almost perfectly, going 14-of-16 with two touchdowns. But he had to leave the game again with a stinger, and didn’t return.

Despite all the injuries, and some still-nagging soreness, Rose played one of his best games ever against Penn and will be fine for The Game.

More than anything this season, Rose puts his success on the offensive line and junior wideout Carl Morris.

“I think he’s the best receiver in the league,” he says. “I’m just so comfortable throwing the ball downfield to him.”

Ask about Coach Murphy, though, and Rose laughs nervously, in almost feigned fear.

But he answers anyway.

“He’s from the old school, smashmouth football, we’re tougher than them,” Rose says. “He really gets into it a lot, he enjoys the blue-collar, humble kid. Murphy’s a great recruiter, and when I met him here, he seemed very straightforward and very professional. I thought Harvard took football more seriously than any other school I visited.”

Morris, Murphy and others will get a chance to play with Rose again next year, as he’s making up for some lost time.

“I was just learning the system,” Rose says about his redshirted sophomore year. “I would have loved to compete with Brad Wilford and Rich Linden for the starting job.”

All things considered, he probably could have gotten the starting position back then. But he’ll be back for another chance as a three-year starter.

“I’ve just found a whole new love for football,” Rose says. “I used to tell people I played for three reasons: my dad’s pride, the guys I played with, and ten Saturdays a year. It’s a lot more than that now.”

After the Game and fall exams, Rose will take a semester off, which means he won’t graduate with his best friends—the senior class.

“This class is closer than any class I’ve seen here,” Rose says. “Previous classes, it seemed they were clique-ish, they didn’t really get along with each other and had a lot of personality conflicts. All the senior offensive line, they’re my blockmates and we enjoy each others’ company.”

After the Game, their time will have run out for Harvard football, however.

“I’m just starting to fully realize what I have here, and I guess I’m not ready to let that go,” Rose says.

If next year is anything like the seasons we’ve just enjoyed, it will be Harvard that’s not ready to let go.