Freshmen Desmond Bryant and Russell Schober have been suspended for the duration of the 2005 football season for an unspecified violation of team rules, Harvard coach Tim Murphy confirmed yesterday.

“The bottom line—and I’ll leave it at this—is that they’re both great kids who just broke a team rule,” Murphy said. “Beyond that, it’s strictly a confidential team matter.”

While the circumstances surrounding Bryant’s infraction remain unclear, Schober was arrested by officers from the Cambridge Police Department on Jan. 13 at 1280 Mass Ave., in all likelihood prompting Murphy’s decision.

Though both will be eligible to return to the team in 2006, their absences, particularly Bryant’s, will set the Crimson back significantly.

In his first year, the 6’6” Bryant emerged as one of the Ivy League’s rising stars, recording 22 tackles—eight for a loss—and four sacks. He would most likely have started at defensive end opposite captain Erik Grimm in 2005.

And now, despite promises that he will be welcomed back for his junior season, Bryant—who was reportedly sought by Clemson, South Carolina, and other Division I-A programs coming out of high school—is admittedly weighing his options, including a transfer that would enable him to play in the coming year.

“I have considered that,” he said.

THUMBS DOWN

Sophomore Corey Mazza, the Crimson’s leading receiver in 2004 with 51 catches for 773 yards and seven touchdowns, underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left thumb on Feb. 9.

Aggravated while he was throwing a block in Harvard’s 34-24 win over Cornell on Oct. 9, Mazza’s injury—and a similar one to his right thumb—initially required only a soft cast and scarcely affected the wideout during his prolific campaign.

“Corey should be fine according to our team doctors,” Murphy said. “He really gutted it out last season...This should alleviate the problem.

At present, the extent of Mazza’s availability for spring ball remains uncertain, though Murphy said that he expects the Thousand Oaks, Calif., product to participate in non-contact drills.

“My best guess,” Mazza said, “is to be in spring ball with a huge cast on it and try to catch and run routes as best I can.”

Barring any setbacks, Mazza should be ready for the season opener at Holy Cross on Sept. 17.

THE QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL

The Harvard backfield just got a bit more crowded.

With freshmen Liam O’Hagan and Chris Pizzotti already set to compete for the right to replace outgoing senior quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, Murphy has thrown three additional candidates into the mix, highlighted by redshirt freshman and Tulane transfer Richard Irvin, who is set to matriculate in the fall semester.

“It’s as wide open as you can get simply because we don’t have experience,” Murphy said.

While O’Hagan, Fitzpatrick’s backup at season’s end, will probably be considered the frontrunner entering spring workouts, Irvin’s experience may tempt Murphy, who is hesitant to turn over his offense to an unproven signal caller.

In his lone season with the Green Wave, Irvin took snaps in nine of 11 games, starting the final two. During that span, he completed 59 of his 106 attempts for 694 yards and seven touchdowns, five of which came in Tulane’s 35-31 win over Texas Christian University on Nov. 27.

“That’s going to push these other guys. They know they have to work harder,” Mazza said. “It’s not just some guy. It’s a proven player at [the Division I-A] level.”

INSIDE THE HUDDLE

Sophomore quarterback Mike Jones has been shifted to wide receiver to make way for the trio of incoming signal callers...Senior wide receiver Rodney Byrnes, asked to spend a year away from the College for academic reasons, has returned to Cambridge and will participate in spring ball.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.