Fall Preview—and Blog

The football team, which last year shared the Ivy League title with Brown (both had 6-1 Ivy records; Harvard was 9-1 overall, Brown 7-3), sustained its only 2008 loss to Brown early in the season. To defend their title, the Crimson will need to replace standouts like quarterback Chris Pizzotti ’08 (’09), the Ivy League’s Player of the Year last fall. There are several candidates for that job, including junior quarterbacks Matt Simpson and Collier Winters. Expect significant yardage gains from running backs Cheng Ho ’10 and Gino Gordon ’11. The offensive line graduated three all-Ivy players, but an able corps, led by offensive tackle James Williams ’10, remains in place. Various football media chose Williams, along with cornerbacks Matthew Hanson ’12 and Derrick Barker ’10 and wide receiver Matt Luft ’10, for preseason all-American teams. Hanson, who snaffled four opponents’ passes last fall, was the 2008 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. 

Gridiron Blogging

“Cleat,” Harvard Magazine’s canny football correspondent, will blog about the fall season on the magazine’s website, http://harvardmagazine.com/football. To receive e-mail notification of new posts, sign up at http://harvardmag.com/highlights.