The Harvard football team, which emphasizes solid defense and few turnovers, has long been known to stick to the basics. But it is also aware of the advantages a big, creative play can have—Harvard coach Tim Murphy counts three of them.

“One, even if they don’t work, they keep the defense honest and makes them think twice about doing certain things,” Murphy says. “Two, it slows it down to less reaction football and more assignment football. And three, it’s fun—it’s fun for the players, it’s fun for the crowd. I wouldn’t do it just for fun, but if you factor all those things in, it can be a great equalizer.”

The Crimson used such trickery in last year’s matchup against the Elis to obliterate any chance Yale had to win the game.

Up 22-17 in the third quarter and facing a fourth-and-5 from midfield, Murphy sent the punt team onto the field. But instead of kicking away, Harvard snapped the ball to linebacker Dante Balestracci, who sprinted to his right before pitching the ball to punter Adam Kingston. The play got the Crimson to the 8-yard line, and set up another Harvard touchdown to extend the lead to 28-17.

“[A special play] changes the whole momentum of the game, so it’s always a possibility that a play like that will be brought in, especially in a game against Yale,” Kingston says.

The Crimson has shown some success this season with trick plays against its opponents. In the season opener against Holy Cross, the Crusaders appeared to be gaining signs of life after scoring a field goal in the beginning of the third quarter, making the score 21-10. But a Harvard special play killed much of the team’s momentum.

Sophomore wide receiver Rodney Byrnes took a pitch from quarterback Neil Rose and appeared to be headed upfield. But Byrnes stopped and heaved a wobbly pass to wide-open wideout Carl Morris, who ran into the end zone untouched.

The score improved the Crimson’s lead to 28-10, which was all it needed to finish off Holy Cross.

That play was reminiscent of the success the Crimson had with trick plays played during the 2001 campaign. In fact, the wide receiver pass against Holy Cross was very similar to the one Harvard ran against Dartmouth last season.

Instead of Morris catching the ball for the touchdown, however, he received the pitch and then threw the pigskin. Morris connected with wide receiver Sam Taylor ’02 across the other side of the field, and Taylor ran in the pass for a touchdown. Down only 21-7 and with the momentum on its side, the Crimson began to orchestrate its incredible second half comeback, eventually beating the Big Green, 31-21.

Morris, an All-American and the 2001 Ivy Player of the Year, has played a crucial role in the Crimson’s ability to run trick plays. He is a versatile athlete, which has allowed the coaching staff to line him up nearly anywhere on the field.

Morris has proven so instrumental, in fact, that he has even diagrammed a few plays himself.

“This is the funny thing about Carl is that he’s always coming up with these trick plays,” Rose says. “And why not? He’s run plenty of specials.”

Though Morris and Byrnes get the majority of special play assignments, the coaching staff notes that all the wideouts are great at running special plays.

“We look for opportunities for Rodney and Carl,” says offensive coordinator Jay Mills. “But, at the same time, we feel that we have a good number of talented individuals, so if we can use Carl or Rodney as a decoy, it can be just as effective.”