“When you’re preparing for Harvard, you have to prepare for a team that throws the ball extremely well and runs extremely well,” said Brown defensive coordinator Mike Kelleher. “[Harvard has] done a great job for the last couple years, and every team that tries to prepare against them this year will have their hands full.”

The relationship between the rush and pass games is symbiotic—if defenses key in on Dawson, Harvard lets the long ball fly. If the secondary responds, Dawson gets breathing room at the line of scrimmage.

“As good as Clifton is, we can’t just hand him the ball 40 times a game and expect to score points,” Cecchini said. “It’s going to take a concerted effort to balance that with the passing attack that we have.”

Dawson’s contribution to the passing game may comprise more than distracting the attention of defenders. He caught 15 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown last season, and it won’t be a surprise if he expands on the role.

“He certainly has improved to the point where he has good hands and runs good routes,” Cecchini said. “He caught about two passes a game last year, and that may go up depending what direction we go offensively.”

Of course, that’s assuming that Dawson isn’t quite good enough to render any defense impotent.

“Clifton’s only stronger, he’s gained weight, he’s faster. He’s good enough to beat people even if they are focused on them,” said junior wide receiver Corey Mazza. “I don’t know what other teams are going to want to do.”

Meet Dawson, a Payton Award contender who is reticent in discussing anything but his team and the contribution he can make to it.

“We can start talking about individual awards once we’re 6-0 and on our way to back-to-back championships,” Dawson said.

—Staff writer Samuel C. Scott can be reached at sscott@fas.harvard.edu.