An even more hyperbolic comparison comes when people start talking about Fitzpatrick’s “Elway-like” ability to come from behind.

“Wow, that’s a stretch,” Fitzpatrick says. “But, all in all, you have to have confidence in your teammates. Too many times the QB gets too much credit.”

There’s that modesty again.

Fitzpatrick wasn’t always the Crimson quarterback of the future, drawing legendary comparisons. Coming into freshman year, Fitzpatrick was vying for third string with the man who currently fills that post, sophomore Garrett Schires. Both were behind Rose and then-back-up Conor Black on the depth chart.

But Black quit the team, Schires was outperfomed, Rose was injured and thus Fitzpatrick became a household name—at least in the houses of Dunster, Lowell and Currier.

“I just stepped up. The opportunity came to me, and I did what I had to do,” Fitzpatrick says.

Rose saw Fitzpatrick as his heir apparent from the start.

“I knew he was going to be the man. I knew right away. He stayed with me, and every night we went over the offense—it was Harvard 101,” Rose says. “He was doing really well. I look at Ryan—he’s going to be a complete quarterback. I do believe he’d be starting on any other Ivy team.”

That’s high praise from the man who holds a number of Harvard passing records.

As for the quarterback controversy between Rose and Fitzpatrick that emerged earlier this season, Crimson players diminish its significance.

“I think we’ve got two of the best quarterbacks in the league bar none, so it’s not a bad thing for us. Fitzpatrick is a great runner,” Morris says. “It really doesn’t make much of a difference to us. We know that regardless of who’s in, we’ll be fine. I think it’s more of a concern to people who write and talk about it than it is to people on the field.”

Fitzpatrick doesn’t know if he’ll see any time during The Game. In any case, he’s not quite sure what to make of all this Harvard-Yale business.

“I didn’t play in the game last year,” Fitzpatrick says. “So I’m not sure what to think of all the fanfare. The most exciting part of the whole circus is playing in front of 51,000 fans.”

While his family won’t be among scores of screaming Harvardians, they will certainly be watching at home. Among these relatives will be his elder brother, Brandon, whom he calls his “inspiration growing up.”

“I watched him play quarterback when we were kids and all through high school,” Fitzpatrick says. “I just wanted to be like that guy.”

He’ll get his chance on Saturday and for the next two years.

This reserved, goofy, family guy will strive to make his kin and the rest of Gilbert, Ariz. proud—especially his grandma.