When Rose was finally cleared to play, he had only one week in pads to develop chemistry with the offense’s new cogs.

Luckily, practice wasn’t needed to make Rose perfect.

In his first outing, a 28-23 victory over Holy Cross, Rose completed 19-of-22 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns.

“He certainly exceeded our expectations, but Neil has been known to do that,” Murphy says. “He has such a mental command of the offense that he was able to do something without physical repetition that was pretty amazing.”

All of this came before Rose left the game late in the third quarter after absorbing a hellacious hit, an injury separate from his sciatic nerve.

“I just got my bell rung,” says Rose.

Wih Harvard safely ahead—leading 21-6 when Rose left the game—team doctors were cautious and told Rose to remain on the sidelines.

Rose obliged, even as the Crusaders pulled the game within a score, but wasn’t happy.

“Looking back, I probably should have been more assertive,” he says. “I’m a senior, and I don’t have that many games left. So I have to be greedy with my playing time.”

Against Brown,however, Rose had no choice. After leaving the game in the second quarter, he was forced to remain in the locker room for almost an hour, his back searing in pain.

Finally, in the fourth quarter, the captain emerged.

Wearing a jacket and tie, he stood by watching stoically.

And waiting.

Rose is waiting again now, the caution of others thrust upon him. The caution of coaches and doctors and trainers.

In Rose’s world, there is no room for caution.

He just wants to play.

“If I had to bet on it, I’d say I’m going to play,” Rose says. “The question is, ‘Will they let me?’”

-Staff writer Lande A. Spottswood can be reached at spottsw@fas.harvard.edu