Junior left tackle Mike Frey went down with two broken ankle bones against Northeastern in the third week of the season, and junior right tackle Brian Lapham broke his hand in the same game. At the next practice, junior tackle Max McKibben sprained an MCL. Sophomore tackles Will Rodgers and Bennett Kowalk both have bulging disks in their backs, and Bakken suffered a concussion.

“I’ve been the healthiest of the group except for the concussion,” Bakken says.

“Besides the fact that you went to see the doctor,” Traverso jabs.

Because of the injuries, Bakken has played four different positions this season, often switching on a series-to-series basis.

“Right tackle, left tackle, right guard,” Mujalli rattles off the positions Bakken has played. “If you got down to it, you’d probably play center.”

“He did play center,” Traverso says.

“I did play center,” Bakken agrees.

“He’s played center,” Mujalli says with a grin.

“All of [the positions] except for mine,” notes Traverso, who plays left guard. “You will not play mine.”

If these three have been the glue holding the offense together, then offensive line coach Ron Crook has been making sure that glue is spread evenly.

The linemen credit Crook for helping the ground game, which has stayed steady even with the less mobile junior quarterback Garrett Shires splitting time with Fitzpatrick. Harvard averaged 209.3 yards per game in the first four weeks of the season and 225.6 yards per game in the last five. Freshman running back Clifton Dawson in particular has been taking advantage of the holes the O-line has been able to open up, rushing for over 1000 yards this season.”

Crook has also been instrumental in preparing the line so well that transitions after injuries have been seamless.

“[Crook] helped keep us together as a unit,” Mujalli says. “When one guy goes down, he reassures us that everything’s going to be fine, it’s going to work out.”

Although Crook has proven himself as a coach, he hasn’t quite picked up on the O-line’s brand of humor, part of what they term the “O-line mentality.”

“As an offensive lineman especially, we just get beat up [in practice],” Traverso explains. “It’s a constant process. There’s no break in the grind, and you just have to be a little bit odd the rest of the time to make up for it.”