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{shortcode-21cc3534b02e5a90dd1b6e61be0fe28423896a7e}s practice ended on the evening of Sept. 10 and Harvard’s football team filed off the field, the Crimson’s new head coach, Andrew Aurich, stood on the sidelines greeting each player with a high five and words of encouragement before they headed to the locker room.

With 11 days left before the Crimson’s season opener against Stetson University, the energy on the practice field was palpable, as Aurich was preparing himself for the biggest challenge of his career.

The Stetson game will be Aurich’s first as a head coach, and it will mark the start of a new era for the Harvard Crimson football team without legendary coach Tim Murphy — the winningest coach in Ivy League football history, who retired in January after 30 years with the team.

Aurich has held the head coach title for more than seven months now and has found support among the team. Still, his debut could help put to rest the criticisms he faced following his hiring from alumni and players — who cast doubt on his qualifications and his selection over veteran Harvard Assistant Coach and Defensive Coordinator Scott Larkee ’99.

The game — which will take place Saturday at Harvard — will not only be Aurich’s first test, but also a chance for the Crimson’s 2024 squad to follow up on its successful 8-2 campaign last season, which saw it finish in a three-way tie for the Ivy League title with Yale and Dartmouth.

‘Two of the Best’

Aurich kicks off the season with an enviable dilemma: having two talented quarterbacks and only one starting position.

Junior Jaden Craig and senior Charles DePrima split the position last season, so Aurich finds himself in the unique situation of having two quarterbacks with experience at the collegiate level to choose from, both hailing from the Garden State.

DePrima, who started the first seven games last season, recorded four games with 85+ rushing yards but struggled to find consistency in the passing game, with a completion percentage of just over 50 percent.

After taking over under center following a mid-season slump from DePrima, Craig was able to find success in the air, where DePrima struggled through the first seven games. Boasting a strong arm and exceptional mobility, Craig provided stability as a passer, throwing for at least 245 yards and completing over 60 percent of his passes in each of his three starts down the stretch.

With Craig closing out the 2023 season as the starter, the Crimson could utilize a two quarterback approach — using DePrima in wildcat formations, jet sweeps, and flea flickers, similar to the New Orleans Saints’ use of tight end/quarterback Taysom Hill in the NFL — to create an explosive and unpredictable offense.

Despite the potential quarterback competition, Aurich expressed excitement about using both signal callers on the roster

“It's a great position to be in, because they are two of the best quarterbacks in the Ivy League,” Aurich said in an interview last Tuesday. “Our job as coaches is to make sure that we’re putting them both in a position to help us win.”

Entering his last year playing for the Crimson, DePrima believes that the team is ready to gel, saying it’s “no secret that our QB room has a ton of experience and a ton of depth.”

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“Through camp and spring ball, all we do is make each other better, so I’m just excited to see what we can do out there on the field,” the senior said.

Craig has also embraced the uncertainty. “It's definitely a unique experience,” he said. “You don’t really have two quarterbacks that are battling for a spot that are such good friends, but we just push each other to get better each day.”

Craig, who threw for 775 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for another seven scores in the 2023 season, is hoping that the offense takes a leap forward this fall.

“I just hope we just continue on the same path we were last season, just explosive plays, big plays, but also just doing all the little things right,” Craig said.

On a personal level, Craig hopes to take on a larger leadership role, saying he wants to be “more of a vocal leader” after taking “a backseat last year.”

‘We’re Doing Great With the Guys That We Have’

While all eyes will be on Deprima and Craig during Saturday's game, the Crimson’s hopes will also be pinned on its most important offensive skills players — senior running back Shane McLaughlin and junior wide receiver Cooper Barkate.

McLaughlin, the Crimson’s first offensive captain since Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05 and a unanimous first team All-Ivy League selection, will lead the backfield once again. McLaughlin accounted for 918 all-purpose yards (830 of them on the ground) during an impressive 2023 campaign.

Barkate caught 40 passes for 501 yards last season and is set to be Harvard’s most important target. The speedy wideout, who came to Cambridge as a blue-chip prospect out of Newport Beach, Calif. in 2022, will run routes alongside seniors Scott Woods II and Kaedyn Oderman — the only other pass-catchers on the roster who have more than one collegiate catch. With five freshman receivers on the roster, Aurich will hope that a new star begins to emerge who can take the veterans’ place in the 2025 season.

With some strong offensive talent in the skill positions, the Crimson’s offensive line remains a potential weak spot to look for in Saturday’s game.

Harvard was tied with Princeton last year in allowing the most sacks in the Ivy League — with 27 throughout the season — and the team graduated three starters this year, so Stetson will serve as an important first test for this year’s starting lineup.

On the special teams side, the Crimson could see a freshman make his mark on the team early into his college career. Kicker Kieran Corr was the top-ranked kicker in the nation as well as a five-star punter coming out of high school in Winchester, Mass. He is still untested on a collegiate level, but he could be a key asset for the team.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Crimson lost key pieces such as linebacker Matthew Hudson ’24, defensive lineman Thor Griffith ’24, and 2023 captain Nate Leskovec ’23-24.

Despite the losses, the unit brings back leading tackler and junior safety Ty Bartrum, along with sophomore defensive back Damien Henderson, who was named to the Phil Steele All-America third team last season, to continue Harvard’s strong defensive performance.

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Standout senior linebacker Eric Little was optimistic about the defense’s prospects this season, despite the missing talent.

“We’re doing great with the guys that we have in this room,” Little said. “I know we had a lot of good guys leaving who were seen as leaders on his defense, but we have guys who are more than capable of filling these roles.”

‘I'm Excited to See How the Team Rallies Together’

Aurich is a key figure to watch for the Crimson this year, but even before his first game, players seemed optimistic about how he’s handling the role.

“I’m super confident in what Coach Aurich has been doing, and I feel like our preparation in the spring, along with camp thus far, has really put us in the right position,” Deprima said. “I’m just excited to see how the team rallies together and ultimately performs week one,” he added.

Beyond the game against Stetson, Aurich is looking forward to preparing for intense games alongside the team.

“I am most looking forward to just getting lost in the weekly process of preparing for a game,” Aurich said. “These guys, they’re putting everything they got into one week at a time, because the goal every week is to be 1-0 on Saturday and when you do that, it turns into a really fun process.”

The Crimson will look to repeat its Ivy League title in a competitive field. The team ranked second in the Ivy League preseason media poll behind Yale, though it received one more first place ranking than its historic rival.

The Bulldogs, lead by long-time coach Tony Reno, have lost a few key players since last season — including quarterback Nolan Grooms, a perpetual thorn in the Crimson’s side — but their returning talent has proven enough to inspire confidence in another successful season.

Dartmouth, which shared the Ivy title with Harvard and Yale last year, slotted in at a tie for fourth place in the media poll, after losing several players to the transfer portal.

The Crimson’s showdown in late October against the other fourth ranked team, Princeton, will be another season highlight. The Crimson will hope to secure its first win against the Tigers since 2017 and achieve redemption for a 2021 game in which an erroneous referee call in triple-overtime cost the Crimson a victory.

The game will have the added drama of being Aurich’s first faceoff against his alma mater, as well as a team he once coached.

Harvard shouldn’t face a huge challenge with Stetson (2-1) — who lost by over 40 points to Furman last week and ended last season 3-8 — but the Crimson’s performance could still set the tone for the season.

With 10 consecutive games without a bye, Aurich is hoping to build momentum from week to week. He said he wants the team to keep at a “level of focus throughout the week” so that the week’s hard work can lead to “success on Saturday.”

Crimson fans should mark Saturday on their calendars. If the Aurich Era is anything like the Murphy Era, the opening salvo of the 2024 campaign will be a cherished memory for years to come

—Staff writer Jo Lemann can be reached at jo.lemann@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at praveen.kumar@thecrimson.com.