“Given the choice, we always want Rob running the ball,” Cowan says. “Last year people were really loading up against Rob, and the only way to have a threat of a running attack was to use Rob as an extra blocker and run the ball with me. This year, we’ve been successful running Rob.”
That success in the running game has not translated into points, though, mainly because the Yale offense has been characterized by a lack of big passing plays. Last season Yale scored 35 points a game, mostly due to Cowan’s ability to eat up yards through the air.
“Last year we really just were incredible offensively,” Cowan says. “We had so many guys on the team that were threats, and such a great offensive line. This year it’s been a tough transition at times to a team that doesn’t have an NFL tight end.”
Nate Lawrie, the 6’7 tight end who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a sensational career at Yale, was Cowan’s favorite target last season. Lawrie led the team with 72 catches and averaged 81 yards receiving per game. The Bulldogs also lost Ron Benigno, whose nine touchdown catches led the Bulldogs in 2003. Also graduating was P.J. Collins, who Cowan called the fastest receiver on last year’s squad, and whose 19 yards per catch stretched opposing defenses.
“We had a lot of threats,” Cowan says. “Defenses couldn’t defend them all—they didn’t have enough guys, and that contributed to getting other guys open.”
Cowan clearly had a special chemistry with Lawrie, Benigno and Collins, who combined to catch 128 of Cowan’s 227 completions.
“All the guys that [were seniors] last year, I’d been throwing to them for years,” Cowan says.
Last year was effectively Cowan’s senior season as well. He entered Yale with the players that graduated in 2004, opting for a fifth year after an injury ended his sophomore campaign. Cowan was also Yale’s captain in 2003, an honor always bestowed upon a senior Bulldog. This year, Cowan chose not to enter the election for the captaincy, honoring tradition.
“I decided in the spring that I came in with the class of guys that I graduated with last year,” Cowan said, “and I felt like it was a class award, and it should be somebody from the class of seniors that is graduating this year.”
Understandably, Cowan has not been able to find the comfort zone that he was in last season.
“It’s a little bit of a different story this year,” Cowan says. “It’s been hard for me at times throwing it to new guys.”
Lamb, who has worked closely with Cowan throughout his Yale career, echoes those sentiments.
“We haven’t had the players,” Lamb says. “Alvin really looked to [Lawrie] last year, and I think that’s the guy that he misses this year. Just the size of Nate—having that 6’7 guy you can throw to over the middle…not having that guy has been a factor.”
In the absence of the departed senior pass-catchers, others have had to step up and fill larger roles, including senior Ralph Plumb and junior Chandler Henley. While Cowan has grown comfortable finding Plumb, developing a rhythm with Henley has been a struggle.
“Chandler and I took some time to develop our relationship as far as quarterback and receiver,” Cowan says. “To a certain extent, even now sometimes we’re a little off as far as deeper balls.”
Cowan and the Yale offense have been just that—a little off—all season long. But all that can be erased with a win at Harvard Stadium. For Cowan, it would be the perfect end to a career that, despite this year’s disappointment, will rank among the best ever for Yale quarterbacks.
“I think anytime you’re a senior and you play in the Harvard-Yale game, you want to go out with a bang,” Cowan says, “but looking back, I’ll say I don’t have any regrets.”