Harvard hoping to ride Darrington past rival Penn

Since Harvard coach Tim Murphy was hired more than 26 seasons ago, each of his four-year recruited classes has won an Ivy League championship.

After an uncharacteristic three-game losing streak, it appears another championship won’t happen for Harvard (4-4, 2-3 Ivy), which hosts Penn (4-4, 2-3 Ivy) at Harvard Stadium at noon Saturday.

“Definitely, one of the main things is our mindset. Even though we’re not playing for a (championship) ring we have to play like we are. We just need to finish games better. That’s what we’ve talked about as an offense and as a team. We play good all game but then we have to be able to finish in tight games,” said junior running back Devin Darrington. “We can’t let up.

“Coach Murphy likes to tell us that we’re Harvard and because of that, every team brings their best game and wants to knock us off.”

Darrington provides an explosive force with his blocky 5-foot-9, 205-pound frame. He has the ability to get tough yardage inside or burst outside with decent speed. A two-year letter-winner in wrestling at The Bullis School in Forest Hill, Md., Darrington had more than 20 scholarship offers from institutions like South Carolina, Pittsburgh, Boise State and other Ivies. Darrington, who has run a 4.4 for the 40-yard dash, said he was impressed when Boise State running backs coach Lee Marks told him that having an offer from Harvard on the table would be tough for anyone to pass up.

“That really hit me. That opened my eyes. My goal is to go to the NFL and I realized then that you can do that with a Harvard degree, too,” Darrington said.

Darrington played sparingly as a freshman, appearing in only three games, gaining eight yards. Last season, Darrington broke through, finishing second on the club with 435 yards on 70 carries with five touchdowns. This season, Darrington has been a mainstay of the Harvard ground attack alongside burgeoning freshman Aidan Borguet (70 for 359, 3 TDs) with a team-best 697 yards on 156 carries (4.5 yards per carry).

If Darrington gains another 97 yards over the last two games against Penn and at Yale, he will crack the top-20 single-season rushers in program history. Just ahead of Darrington is Robert Santiago with 793 yards from the 1985 season. Darrington, who has scored seven touchdowns this season, needs four more to share seventh place all-time with Gino Gordon.

Coincidentally, Mike Giardi (Class of 1994), the color commentator for radio broadcasts, sits in a fourth-place tie with Chris Menick (13 in 1997) with 13 touchdowns from the 1991 campaign. Giardi played more snaps (1,005 from 1991-93) than any other player in Harvard history with the exception of current NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (2001-04), who played 1,006.

“Honestly, it all sounds good but I try not to think about it,” said Darrington, who spent the offseason training at the Chip Smith Performance System facility located in Norcross, Ga.

This will mark the 90th meeting between the Crimson and Quakers; Harvard holds a 49-38-2 edge. Last year, Harvard posted a 29-7 victory at Franklin Field in Philadelphia to halt a modest three-game series win streak by Penn. Since 2001, the two Ivy rivals have split 18 matchups.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2q4WJqt