OPPONENT SPOTLIGHT: Smith leads Ivy's best 'D'

The Harvard football team enters this weekend's game against Penn with an ordinary 3-5 record which includes a woeful 1-4 mark in Ivy League play. So you probably wouldn't expect the Crimson to be nationally ranked in anything, except maybe turnovers or punts. Surprise, surprise. You didn't know about the Harvard defense. It ranks 10th in Division I-AA in total defense, surrendering an average of just 261.5 yards a game. And the Crimson are second in I-AA in rushing defense, giving up only 81.4 yards a contest. Other people might be surprised, but the Harvard defenders aren't. "It wasn't really a surprise for us," Crimson defensive end Chris Smith said. "We've been working hard for two years. It was time to see it pay off." Smith is one of the big reasons for Harvard's defensive resurgence. The Crimson have 17 sacks this year -- one more than they had last all of last season -- and Smith is responsible for 7.5 of them. And he wishes he had more. "I wanted to get one or two per game," Smith said. "I want to get over 10. That would be nice. I still have a couple of games." Smith even has a decent shot at the Harvard career record for sacks. Combine the 7.5 he has this season with the two he got last year, and the junior is only 8.5 away from the Crimson mark of 18 with more than a year of football left. Not bad for someone who almost didn't attend Harvard. Were it not for a coaching change, Smith could be playing at Duke. When Smith was a senior at Pine View High School in Sarasota, Fla., the Blue Devils offered him a football scholarship. But Duke fired its coach, and new coach Fred Goldsmith and his staff weren't interested in Smith. "At the time I was disappointed," Smith said. "That was before I found out about Harvard." Actually, Smith had known about Harvard before and had always dreamed of going there. But he "didn't ever consider it a legitimate possibility" until later in his senior year, when a coach for the Crimson asked him about coming to Cambridge, Mass. "I went on a recruiting trip there in January of my senior year, and I fell in love with it," Smith said. "It was a foregone conclusion." Smith became part of Harvard coach Tim Murphy's first recruiting class, and he quickly demonstrated his skills on the field. He appeared in eight games as a freshman in 1994 and was even starting by the end of the season. After being named the most improved defensive lineman in spring practice, Smith started all 10 games for the Crimson last year, racking up 49 tackles in addition to his two sacks. Smith has worked hard off the field to make himself a better player. He is tied for first on the team with a bench press of 395 pounds and squats 550 pounds. But at 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds, he thinks his best asset is his speed. "Offensive linemen are always going to be heavier by 20 or 30 pounds," Smith said. "If I get into a shoving match, I'm not going to get anywhere." Against Penn on Saturday, Smith expects to spend about half the time lining up against Quakers left tackle Sears Wright, who outweighs Smith by at least 100 pounds. "Luckily, on film, he looks slow," Smith said. "I'll try to run around him. I'm not going to have much luck bull-rushing him." Thanks to the development of Smith and other underclassmen, Harvard was so deep on the defensive line this season that Murphy moved two-year starter Mike Kent across the line to tight end. The fact that Kent was one of only two returning seniors on defense didn't matter. "Coach felt the position was secure enough," Smith said. "He was sure enough of what he had to take advantage of all our abilities." Smith and his mates on the line have proven Murphy correct, and the emergence of two freshmen -- linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski and safety Aron Natale -- has helped turn the Crimson into the best defense in the league. "We're excited about our potential," Smith said. "Another year of running, lifting and coaching, and we're just going to be better next year."