2002 Harvard Crimson football team

2002 Harvard Crimson football
Conference	Ivy League
Record	7–3 (6–1 Ivy)
Head coach	Tim Murphy (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jay Mills (7th season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Kevin Doherty (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Captain	Neil Rose
Home stadium	Harvard Stadium
Seasons ←  2001 2003  →

2002 Ivy League football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 17 Penn $		7	–	0					9	–	1
Harvard		6	–	1					7	–	3
Princeton		4	–	3					6	–	4
Yale		4	–	3					6	–	4
Cornell		3	–	4					4	–	6
Dartmouth		2	–	5					3	–	7
Brown		2	–	5					2	–	8
Columbia		0	–	7					1	–	9
$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2002 Harvard Crimson football team was an American football team that represented Harvard University during the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Crimson finished second in the Ivy League.

In their ninth year under head coach Timothy Murphy, the Crimson compiled a 7–3 record and outscored opponents 267 to 230. Neil Rose was the team captain. ^[1]

Harvard's 6–1 conference record placed second in the Ivy League standings. The Crimson outscored Ivy opponents 190 to 154. ^[2]

The Crimson appeared briefly, twice, in the national Division I-AA rankings: they were ranked No. 23 in the preseason poll, but dropped out of the top 25 before playing a game; and after opening the year with two wins, they were ranked No. 25 in the first poll of October. After their record dropped to 2–1, they again fell out of the national rankings, and did not reappear in 2002.

On November 16, the annual Harvard–Penn game was the first Division I-AA matchup to host an episode of ESPN's "College GameDay", which had only visited Division I-A sites in its first nine years of remote broadcasts. The Ivy League had called ESPN to suggest highlighting the matchup of two teams with 5–0 conference records. ^[3]

Harvard played its home games at Harvard Stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 21	No. 23 Holy Cross *	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 28–23	10,107	[4]
September 28	at Brown	Brown Stadium Providence, RI	W 26–24	13,523	[5]
October 5	at No. 14 Lehigh *	Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA	L 35–36	9,458	[6]
October 12	Cornell	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 52–23	6,533	[7]
October 19	No. 15 Northeastern *	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	L 14–17	13,402	[8]
October 26	at Princeton	Princeton Stadium Princeton, NJ (rivalry)	W 24–17	15,015	[9]
November 2	at Dartmouth	Memorial Field Hanover, NH (rivalry)	W 31–26	8,102	[10]
November 9	Columbia	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 28–7	8,241	[11]
November 16	at No. 17 Penn	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA (rivalry / College GameDay )	L 9–44	18,630	[12]
November 23	Yale	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA (The Game)	W 20–13	30,323	[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

^[14]

Roster

2002 Harvard Crimson football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 14 Ryan Fitzpatrick So	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Timothy Murphy Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

References

1. "Football Record Book: Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 6, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
2. "Year-by-Year History". Ivy League Football Media Guide (PDF). Princeton, N.J.: Ivy League. 2017. p. 40. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
3. Lesmerises, Doug (November 17, 2002). "GameDay: Note Cards, Knowledge and Nuttiness". Sunday News Journal . Wilmington, Del. p. D6 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Pave, Marvin (September 22, 2002). "Cross Cannot Bear Crimson". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C17 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Blaudschun, Mark (September 29, 2002). "Crimson Fit Enough, Survive". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C17 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Burris, Joe (October 6, 2002). "Crimson Thrown for a Loss". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C17 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Harber, Paul (October 13, 2002). "Crimson's Numbers Do Lie". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C16 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Blaudschun, Mark (October 20, 2002). "Crimson Done In by Wild Pitch". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. E17 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Dell'Apa, Frank (October 27, 2002). "Rose Flourishes for the Crimson". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C18 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Chamberlain, Tony (November 3, 2002). "Morris, Crimson Can't Be Caught". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C17 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Pave, Marvin (November 10, 2002). "No Faking, Crimson Cruise". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. D18 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Juliano, Joe (November 17, 2002). "Penn Clinches at Least Ivy Tie with 44-9 Pasting of Harvard". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Philadelphia, Pa. p. D7 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Hine, Tommy (November 24, 2002). "Harvard Scrambles for a Solution". Hartford Courant . Hartford, Conn. p. E1 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "2002 Football Schedule". Harvard University Athletics. Retrieved January 3, 2026.