The plan worked perfectly—until junior wide receiver Adam Scott started to run. Shelton-Mosley and senior tight end Jack Stansell threw key blocks, and within seconds, the Scott had reached the end zone.
Special teams and penalties. Penalties and special teams. Coaches harp on these metrics as keys to success. In 2016, the Crimson struggled on both accounts, posting the lowest kickoff return average (15.2 yards) and most penalties per game (7.7) among Ivy League teams.
Last Saturday told a different story. Harvard didn’t see a flag until midway through the third quarter. And the special teams racked up 14 points thanks to Scott and Shelton-Mosley.
Shelton-Mosley’s touchdown came three minutes into play, when he fielded a punt at the left hash and swept right. Junior wide receiver Henry Taylor cleared out the kicker, and Shelton-Mosley sprinted past the goal line.
“The blocking was tremendous,” Murphy said. “It wasn’t a question of whether it was going to be a good return. It was a question of whether it was going to be a house call.”
LINEBACKERS BACK IN LINE
If the Crimson ever runs out of wide receivers, Murphy might want to consider linebacker Luke Hutton. Last Saturday, the senior nearly came up with two exceptional interceptions.
The first came on a crossing route. Hutton dove, somersaulted, and seemed to roll the ball over his cleat. Referees ruled otherwise.
The second came when freshman quarterback Sean O’Malley tried to heave the ball out of bounds. Hutton raced to the sidelines and tried to drag his feet. Again, referees ruled otherwise.
Remarkably, the senior got his hands on the ball a third time when he batted down a pass in the third quarter. Put simply, Hutton was everywhere.
He needed to be. Injured defenders populated the Harvard sideline. Junior linebacker Anthony Camargo held a crutch. Junior cornerback Wes Ogsbury wore a hard boot. Senior cornerback Tobe Ezekoli wore a soft one.
Setbacks have especially hit linebackers. On Saturday, sophomores Joey Goodman and Matt Farber returned to action after skipping the Cornell contest.
The most impactful addition has been junior linebacker Charlie Walker, who missed all 2016 with a major leg injury. In the past two weeks, Walker has racked up 17 tackles. The Keller, Texas, native hits with ferocity and blankets receivers in the pass game.
Along with teammates, Walker approached the Leopards game with renewed fire after giving up 233 rushing yards to the Big Red.
“We were almost embarrassed…to put [the Cornell game] on film and send that to other teams as if we allow others to run down our throat,” Walker said. “It was nice to come out and show everybody that we’re not going to accept something like that.”
—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com