In this installment of a new weekly series, we break down the ins and outs of the Harvard football team. This week, we dissect how sophomore defensive end Zach Hodges has smothered opposing quarterbacks and running backs.

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With the Harvard men’s basketball team’s season opener less than a month away, The Back Page is breaking down the Crimson’s non-conference opponents. Each week, we will take a look at two new foes. On Tuesday we profiled UMass. Next up is Manhattan College.

The last time the Harvard men's basketball team faced off against Manhattan College, the players on this 2012-2013 team hadn't even been born. The Crimson will host the Jaspers on Nov. 16 for the ninth ever meeting of the two teams and the first since the 1987-88 season, during which Harvard lost the matchup, 77-66.

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From the very first second of the 2012-13 season, it was clear that this will be a year of change for the Harvard men’s basketball team.

When the Crimson stepped onto the court at Lavietes Pavilion for its first practice on Saturday, not only was Kanye West’s “All of the Lights” (Harvard’s theme song on its run to back-to-back Ivy League titles) replaced as the Crimson’s intro track, but Harvard was also missing four starters from last year’s championship squad.

That made Saturday’s “Crimson Madness” event especially interesting. For the first time this season, Harvard fans got a glimpse of a number of unfamiliar faces who will be called on to play major minutes this season.

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It’s already the middle of October, and for most Harvard students that’s not a good thing.

Mid-October is difficult for just about everyone. Now that work is actually due, about 90 percent of Harvard students are panicking as they try to cram the first 12 lectures that nobody paid attention to.

Unfortunately, factions are starting to form amongst the student body. The California kids are complaining about the 50-degree temperatures and breaking out their heavy winter jackets while they dream of Stanford graduate school. More and more students are starting to pick sides as Joe Biden rudely interrupts Paul Ryan on national TV. Oh, and the MLB playoffs are in full swing, which is great except that the Massholes remain as salty as a saltine over the abysmal Red Sox season.

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Jeremy Lin ‘10 stumbled in his preseason debut for the Houston Rockets this week, averaging 5.3 points per game and shooting 21.1 percent in three games. Last season, Lin averaged 14.6 ppg and shot 44.6 percent from the field, and he has attributed the week’s underwhelming performance to his ongoing recovery from knee surgery.

“My speed and my explosiveness and my agility [are not] there yet,” Lin told the New York Daily News after Houston’s 95-75 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Friday.

Nevertheless, questions about Lin’s athleticism have provided fodder for the New York media. The Rockets went 2-1 with Lin in the line-up this week, defeating the Thunder and Hornets on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, before falling to the Spurs on Sunday. Lin did not play in the Rockets’ 123-104 loss to the Mavericks on Monday.

Ryan Fitzpatrick ‘05 and the Buffalo Bills (3-3) eked out an upset overtime victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. The Amish Rifle threw for 153 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions before Rian Lindell booted a 25-yard field goal to clinch a 19-16 win on the road. The game was a homecoming of sorts for Fitzpatrick, who grew up in Gilbert, Ariz., and guided Highland High School to an Arizona Fiesta Region championship as a junior. In the end, few overtime heroics were required of Fitzmagic as Arizona’s Jarius Byrd yield his second interception of the game to provide the Bills with ideal field position to chip in the decisive points.

As the NHL lockout drags into its second month, Craig Adams ’99 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Dominic Moore ’03, who played for the San Jose Sharks last season, have probably had some input into recent collective bargaining talks. The former Crimson hockey stars are both members of the 31-player NHL Players’ Association negotiating committee. Adams and other signed players would have received their first of thirteen NHL paychecks on Monday had the season started on time. Moore is still an unrestricted free agent and may sign with his 10th different NHL team in nine seasons once a new CBA is in place.