The other was the backup quarterback from Tulane University, who would decide to take a long second look at the Ivy institution that had aggressively recruited him out of high school.

“SOMETHING BETTER”

The first time Richard Irvin visited Cambridge was in his senior year of high school, and he didn’t know what he wanted.

The second time was during his second year at Tulane, and he knew exactly what he wanted: to transfer to Harvard.

Irvin, who averaged 369.2 passing yards per game in his senior year at John Muir High in Pasadena, Calif., liked what he saw in Cambridge his first time out. Ultimately, however, he chose to head south to play for the Division I-A Green Wave.

There, the 6’2, 205-lb. Irvin redshirted his freshman season behind J.P. Losman, now quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. The next season, he played in all nine games, starting two. His five TDs and 282 yards passing in his first start against Texas Christian gave him a Conference USA offensive player of the week nod.

Mid-way through the season, though, Irvin’s thoughts began to wander northeastwards. Keeping within NCAA regulations, he had his high school coach contact the Harvard program about transferring.

His reasons for the switch were both academic and athletic.

“I wanted to play more than the opportunity [at Tulane],” Irvin admitted. “I guess it was just the whole package that Harvard provides, honestly.”

It was Harvard, and only Harvard, that appealed to him.

“I really had no other interest in transferring anywhere else than to here,” Irvin said. “Tulane’s a great school, it provided me with a lot. I got to play there, and I got to learn from a guy like J.P. And New Orleans is a great city.

“I had a really good thing going there,” he went on, “so the only thing that would make me leave would be something better. I perceived this to be something better.”

A “DILEMMA”

Irvin’s transfer application was accepted, but he wasn’t due to matriculate until September. Back at Harvard, the O’Hagan-Pizzotti race had become slightly one-sided due to Pizzotti’s injury. Coach Murphy had to convert then-sophomore wide receiver Mike Jones back to his original position at quarterback just to provide some depth behind center, and even enlisted Fitzpatrick to help with drills.

With Pizzotti out, O’Hagan took all the snaps during the spring. He improved rapidly, becoming more familiar with the complex Harvard offense. In the spring game on April 30, O’Hagan was 12-of-14 for 202 yards and four touchdowns against the second team defense. His play during the spring led wide receiver Corey Mazza to remark that, “Liam in his pads looks like a clone of Fitzy.”