Juniors Jordan Becerra (31), Scott Peters (44), and Sean Ahern (6) will join captain Norman Hayes (7) in the Crimson’s secondary this year.

A week after dropping a triple-overtime contest to Princeton, the Harvard football team faced a must-win situation at home against Dartmouth last year. Two losses in the conference would all but guarantee that the Ivy League championship would be out of reach.

Down just a field goal with 43 seconds left and a timeout remaining, the Big Green began a drive deep in its own territory. Second-string quarterback Alex Park gave the visitors a flicker of hope, driving the Big Green down to the 38 with 30 seconds to go. But on the next play, Park overthrew his receiver and then-senior safety Jaron Wilson ’14 was there to pick it off.

When Dartmouth gifted the Crimson with a share of the Ancient Eight title by toppling Princeton three weeks later, Wilson’s last-second interception to seal the game took on championship-winning importance.

This year’s Crimson squad won’t feature Wilson. Or D.J. Monroe ’14, another defensive back who had a key interception in the Big Green contest. The two graduated as part of a senior class that also included corner Brian Owusu ’14 and safeties Chris Splinter ’14 and Reynald Kirton ’14—with one notable exception, the entire starting secondary of 2013.

“There are definitely new faces at all positions, but everybody who’s had to step up into these roles has made huge gains and accepted them fully,” captain Norman Hayes said. “They’re getting to know our defense and how our schemes work. It’s been tough at times because of inexperience, but everyone’s pretty much on the same page now.”

The only experienced member of the secondary remaining has the unique challenge of leading not only the defensive backs, but also the entire team. Hayes, elected captain last December, became the first non-linebacker to receive the honor since 2010.

“He’s just such a confident, tough, high football IQ guy,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “People think he’s one of the guys with tremendous integrity and class on our team, and you put it all together and yeah, it’s hard to make that decision among thirty or so guys, but I think it was the total package.”

Beyond Hayes, the defensive backfield remains a question mark. At cornerback, the Crimson will likely rotate a group composed of juniors Sean Ahern, Jordan Becerra, and Chris Evans. Ahern and Becerra have eight tackles combined between both of them, and Evans has yet to see any game action.

Despite the relative inexperience of the new corners, Murphy remains optimistic following a promising preseason.

“Corner was a position that a year ago we were really concerned about—losing guys like Brian Owusu, DJ , and some other guys,” Murphy said. “But all of a sudden, we feel like we’ve got a bunch of good corners. Guys just growing into the position and developing…. They’re tough, physical, big cover corners, so it’s all good news at corner.”

The Crimson’s depth falls a little shorter at safety, a position which Hayes, who split time between corner and safety last year, will be playing this season. Junior Scott Peters, a former freshman walk-on, and classmate Asante Gibson will join Hayes in the safety rotation. While both Peters and Gibson have more game experience than any of the new corners, the lack of depth will likely require Hayes to take more reps while the defense is on the field.

“[Hayes is] a two-time All-Ivy player, he’s the only guy with significant experience, and he’s the captain of the football team,” Murphy said. “So you put that all together and, predictably, he’s going to be the guy back there who has to really be the quarterback, be the coach on the field, and he can do it. He’s got broad shoulders. He can do it.”

But luckily for Hayes, the inexperience in the defense is limited to the secondary. Three of the Crimson’s front four are seniors, including veteran defensive end Zach Hodges, who anchors the defensive line. With Hodges up front pressuring the quarterback, the secondary’s job should be easier—the senior, who was the only FCS player named to the watch list for the Butkus Award, an honor given to the best college linebacker, ranks fifth in Harvard history with 18.5 sacks.

Joining Hodges as veterans on the line are senior defensive tackles Obum Obukwelu, who struggled with injuries last year but still managed to notch 19 tackles on the season, and Ryan Delisle.

The linebacking crew isn’t exactly starving for experience either. Despite graduating captain Josh Boyd ’14, the squad retains a number of seasoned linebackers, led by now-healthy senior Connor Sheehan, who was sidelined for most of last year by an elbow fracture, and junior Eric Medes, who led the squad with 72 tackles in 2013.