Harvard football coach Tim Murphy said that senior linebacker Blaise Deal would definitely miss tomorrow's home opener against Brown a week after taking a hit to the knee against Holy Cross last Saturday.

While it’s still not clear how long Deal will be out, it appears he will likely miss an extended period of time.

Deal—who also missed most of last season with a knee injury—tweeted in the hours after the game that “I don’t think I will ever play another sport as long as I live.”

A tweet two days later also seemed to indicate that a return might be unlikely: “Today was the first day in like 10 years that I've woken up and not been a football player.”

Captain Alex Gedeon, who is also Deal’s roommate, said that the senior linebacker has begun physical therapy and is working towards a recovery. But according to Gedeon, though Deal's loss is a significant one for the team, he remains an important presence for the Crimson.

“He’s been incredible," Gedeon said. "He just keeps a positive attitude ... He’s definitely one of the emotional leaders on the team, and to see how he’s handled this situation is inspiring.”

The team remains confident that it can fill the void that Deal leaves while he recovers from his injury. In addition to Gedeon and junior Bobby Schneider, two other starting linebackers, juniors Alex Norman and Josh Boyd—both of whom appeared in all 10 games last season—will play at the linebacker spot while Deal is out, according to Gedeon.

This weekend is a big one for Harvard football. I’m not just talking about normal-sized big, but football-player big.

On Friday, the Crimson takes on Brown in its first league game of the season. This game will be key in terms of gaining momentum and setting up an Ivy League title run.

But before we get to this matchup, here is a round-up of the events that led up to this weekend’s contests:

Last Saturday, Harvard opened its season against Holy Cross. Despite gaining a lead of 14-3 in the first quarter, the Crimson quickly gave the Crusaders a way back into the game.  Covers were blown and Holy Cross completed several long-distance passes. After Holy Cross took the lead 17-14 after a one-yard touchdown run, the team never looked back, scoring 22 consecutive points to push the final score to 30-22. The Crusaders’ win was an upset, as preseason rankings showed Harvard to be on top. Whoops, my mistake, I meant these rankings.

The Crimson’s loss wasn’t the only shocker last weekend. Penn kept its status as the “Social Ivy” by making friends with Lafayette when the Quakers generously rolled over in a 37-12 Leopard blowout. Penn—the preseason favorite to win the Ivy League—blew its eight-game winning streak, losing to Lafayette’s backup quarterback.

While the Ivy’s two top-ranked teams lost several points of self-esteem, some of the lower-seeded squads came out ready to battle. Cornell, who tied with Princeton for the Ivy League's lowest rank, came from a 13-0 deficit to beat Bucknell, 24-13. Touchdown passes of 87 and 64 yards were key moments in the Big Red’s victory. Dartmouth also came out ready, as the Big Green crushed Colgate, 37-20. Dartmouth running back Nick Schwieger came up huge as he ran for two touchdowns and had a total of 175 yards.

Preseason middle-of-the-league teams Yale and Brown pulled out victories against Georgetown and Stony Brook, respectively, while Columbia lost to Fordham. As the Bulldogs handed the Hoyas their first loss of the season, they simultaneously forgot how to count to 100 as can be seen from this pie chart.

When the Bears came back from a 10-point deficit and beached the Seawolves, 21-20, in New York on Saturday night, they proved that they could win close ones. I guess they realized that they couldn’t count the game as pass/fail. Meanwhile, the commute across the River proved to be too much for the Lions who gave in, 21-14, to their newly-found cross water rivals.

Princeton also lost to Lehigh , 34-22—this was not much of a surprise, as the Tigers’ record last season came out to 1-9. They hope to rebound this weekend when the Ivy League season officially begins.

In a new weekly feature, The Crimson will be tracking the successes (and potential failures) of some of Harvard’s most successful graduates not to use their Harvard degrees. While a tour through professional sports is not exactly a who’s who of Harvard alumni, a few athletes have taken their game to the next level. From Jeremy Lin to Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Crimson maintains a presence outside of the labs and law offices of the world.

Our alumni tracker this week has (deservingly so) turned into the Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05 MVP tracker. The Bills quarterback lit up the scoreboard again yesterday in a 38-35 nail-biter in Buffalo.

Not only did Fitzpatrick turn in a 264-yard, three-touchdown performance, the Buffalo signal caller fired a touchdown pass to David Nelson on fourth down with 14 seconds left in the final quarter to put the Bills in front for good in a back-and-forth affair.

The real story, though, is Fitzpatrick’s sudden success after a decidedly average first seven years in the NFL. With a career 75.1 passer rating, Fitzpatrick, until the last two weeks, was best known for his impressive, nine-minute, 48-correct-answer sprint through the Wonderlic Test, football’s measure of mental aptitude, and his educational background.

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In the fourth quarter of last weekend’s Harvard men’s water polo game against George Washington, after the Colonials' set struck co-captain Luka Babic in the eye, the scene in the pool was a bloody mess.

“A bunch of guys jumped in the pool to lift me out and stayed with me until the doctor came,” said Babic, recapping the ordeal. “I was pretty out of it … They were really worried.”

Despite two large cuts above and below Babic’s left eye, the Crimson senior refused to leave his team for the hospital until the conclusion of the double-overtime game.

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If you're frustrated with the NBA lockout and craving a game to watch, your solution might be nearer than you think. Later this month, Penn’s historic basketball arena, the Palestra, will hold an event that will showcase NBA players that even Ivy League students might know.

The setup will be simple: Team Philly vs. Team Melo. Team Melo will boast of many of the NBA’s top acts, including the New York Knick’s newly acquired Carmelo Anthony, the New Orleans Hornets’ point guard Chris Paul, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s superstar Kevin Durant, and the player everyone loves to hate, the Miami Heat’s Lebron James. Opposing this formidable group is Team Philly, led by the Phoenix Suns’ Hakim Warrick and the Houston Rockets’ Kyle Lowry. Unfortunately—or at least in my opinion, as yours truly hails from Los Angeles—Kobe Bryant has turned down an offer to join Team Philly.

A piece of the profits from this showcase will go to local Philadelphian charities. For anyone interested in making the trek to Philadelphia for the 6 pm tip-off on September 25th, tickets range from $35 to $50 but are going fast.

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