QUARTERBACK

It all depends on whether junior Ryan Fitzpatrick is healthy. If he’s 100 percent, Harvard holds the edge on any Ivy League team. After four games this season, Fitzpatrick was not only the best QB in the Ivies but also in the nation. He led all of Division I-AA in passing efficiency and total offense. Then came the broken hand. Fitzpatrick wasn’t himself against Dartmouth, throwing two interceptions and fumbling once in the Crimson’s first loss of the season. Garrett Schires, who played so well against Lafayette and Princeton, struggled in limited time against the Big Green and came unglued at Columbia.

Among quarterbacks who have played eight games this season, Yale’s Alvin Cowan leads the Ivy League in yards thrown (2556), touchdowns thrown (20) and passing efficiency (145.7). He’s also only thrown six interceptions and has rushed for 423 yards and seven TDs. But other than that…

“We’ve had a good year thus far,” Cowan said. “But, as you know, you can throw records out when it comes to The Game…and this year will be no different.”

It comes down to this—if Fitzpatrick is completely healthy, he will be able to run all over Yale’s defense, just as he was able to run over Holy Cross, Brown, Northeastern and Cornell. He played admirably against Penn, but it was clear that the rust was still there. If he’s not 100 percent—even if he’s playing—the edge goes to Yale. Cowan is too good.

Edge: Push

RUNNING BACKS

Another close battle here. Yale’s junior Robert Carr was certainly the consensus preseason pick as the league’s top running back. He had fantastic freshman and sophomore years and was a unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection last season. He hasn’t disappointed in 2003, averaging 4.8 yards-per-carry with 10 rushing touchdowns. He’s also racked up 772 yards on the ground and added 424 return yards, good for fourth in the Ivy League in all-purpose yards.

Unfortunately for the Yalies, Harvard has freshman tailback Clifton Dawson, whom Columbia coach Bob Shoop called the best back in the Ivies, hands down. He’s probably right. In one less game than Carr, Dawson has 1,003 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s rushed for over 100 yards in five straight games, including topping the 200 mark against Lafayette and carrying the ball 40 times for 187 yards in Harvard’s 43-40 overtime win against Princeton.

Dawson is a human pinball, bouncing off tacklers and using his lightning-quick speed to run away from defenders. He already has two 71-yard touchdown runs on the season and is the first Ivy League freshman tailback ever to run for over 1,000 yards in a season. By the time his four-year career is set and done, he’ll likely have set every rushing record in the Harvard record book.

Add sophomore Ryan Tyler to the mix, and Harvard’s got itself a dynamic one-two punch.

Edge: Harvard

WIDE RECEIVERS

At the beginning of the year, the edge here would have gone to Harvard. Junior Brian Edwards appeared to be the next coming of Carl Morris ’03—an unstoppable threat who could run away from the defense. Though he still possesses the skills to rack up 150-plus yards in a game, Schires was never able to utilize Edwards like Fitzpatrick did at the beginning of the year. There is hope, however, as Edwards again gained over 100 yards last week against Penn on eight catches. He has a team-leading 777 receiving yards on the year.

“He’s got this effortless kind of grace and speed that is not something you see everyday,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said of Edwards. “He makes things look easy which are really quite difficult.”