Senior quarterback NEIL ROSE was one of the many stars missing from Friday's spring game.

This spring, Harvard football coach Tim Murphy has overseen the development of a number of underclassmen that are being groomed to replace the numerous holes created by graduation.

The Crimson’s spring game last Friday put those efforts on display, as the defense faced off against the offense in the annual intrasquad scrimmage. On a day that was dominated by defense but also showed the big-play ability of the offense, the biggest story was on the sidelines.

Many of next year’s projected starters were not available to play. Harvard’s fifth-year quarterback, Neil Rose, is on leave for the spring. Senior Carl Morris, junior running back Nick Palazzo and sophomore Matt Fratto were also unable to dress due to injury.

The defense was similarly shorthanded with sophomore linebacker Dante Balestracci, junior defensive end Mike Armstrong, junior defensive tackle Greg Parker and freshman cornerback Gary Sonkur all sidelined.

That left many opportunities for other players to step up on Friday.

After freshman Sean Tracy set the tone for the game with his early interception return for a touchdown, the defense took a big lead on the strength of a series of fourth-down stops.

The rest of the secondary, which returns only one starter in sophomore Benny Butler, also played well. Chris Raftery, who is getting his first extensive playing time after being injured for most of the last two seasons, was particularly impressive.

On the defensive line, sophomores Brendan McCafferty and junior Jesse Brush played well, especially in the absence of Parker. At defensive end—a position with no returning starter and weakened by Armstrong’s injury—junior Pat Lavin put in a strong performance Friday.

Also, sophomore Brian Garcia, who has had a breakout spring, showed promise and will complete an inexperienced but deep defensive line.

“The coaches were generally pleased with how the first defense played,” McCafferty said. “We basically stopped the first offense the whole day.”

The 2001 Harvard squad set a new benchmark for excellence by going 9-0 and winning its first Ivy League title since 1997 and 10th overall.

Over the course of the season, Harvard completed the largest comeback victory in its 128-year history against Dartmouth and defeated Yale in the 118th playing of “The Game.” It was Harvard’s first undefeated and untied season since 1913, when Percy Haughton, Class of 1899, was coach and Charlie Brickley, Class of 1915, was the team’s star.

Last season’s team was carried by a new generation of standouts, including Rose, Morris and Balestracci. Harvard also benefited from stellar offensive and defensive line play, as well as an experienced secondary and linebacking corps.

But graduation has changed the team’s makeup going into next year, raising questions about the team’s prospects next fall and heightening the interest in this spring’s workouts.

Rose, who missed the 1999 season due to injury, will be returning to the Crimson as team captain next fall. The team he will return to lead will be missing the services of all-Ivy seniors Willie Alford, Andy Fried, Marc Laborsky, Ryan Fitzgerald and Eric LaHaie.