Man in the Middle

Attention Ivy League running backs: Matt Thomas has your number memorized, and he’s not likely to forget it.

“The first thing I do is look at the piece of paper with all their stats, and I focus on this guy,” Thomas says. “I look at his name, look at his number—get familiar with him.”

Perhaps a little too familiar, if you ask some of the running backs who’ve been on the receiving end of Thomas’ crushing introductions.

“I know this is how he runs this play,” Thomas says. “This is his strength, this is his weakness. I make it a point to learn the people I have to go up against.”

Harvard’s team leader in tackles knows everybody he plays, but he doesn’t expect much from the opposition.

When the Crimson’s star-studded defense was dismantled by graduation after the 2003 season, the guys on the field when Harvard didn’t have the ball were not, originally, Crimson opponents’ primary concern. And with the departure of four-time All-Ivy linebacker Dante Balestracci ’04, the defense became a mere footnote to the offensive juggernaut that has dominated defenses all season.

That was back when the media thought the 2004 Harvard squad capable of shootout wins and defensive mishaps. That was back before Matt Thomas made a name for himself, back when he was still nursing a fractured foot that kept him sidelined for the entire 2003 season. Back when anonymity was possible for the 6’2, 245 lb. rising Harvard junior who had yet to step on to the grass at Harvard Stadium.

That was back when Ivy running backs had yet to hear of the hulking middle linebacker who had sinister plans for their afternoons against the Harvard defense.

“I just make sure that if he does gain yards, he’s going to feel it when he gets up off the field,” Thomas says. “Make sure he finishes on his back and feels some sort of pain when he gets up.”

They’ve felt it, and with those introductions have come the end of Thomas’ anonymity.

From a freshman on the scout team to an All-Ivy-caliber linebacker, Thomas has traveled anything but the typical road to stardom. The Maryland native befriended Balestracci during the spring of his freshman year, and the upperclassman’s leadership proved pivotal in Thomas’ development on and off the field.

As a sophomore limited by injury, Thomas charted the defense from the press box in each of Harvard’s games last year. The aerial view allowed him to see the machinations of opposing offenses as well as the interworkings of the Harvard defense. No press box could compare to the turf, but Thomas nursed his sore foot and watched.

Come 2004 and he’s a spectator no longer. Balestracci left his throne in the middle of the Crimson defense to the eager Thomas, and Harvard plugged a gaping hole almost seamlessly. After graduating four first-team All-Ivy defenders, coach Tim Murphy sought a quick fix to potential defensive woes.

“Coming on the field after going 40 straight games with Dante Balestracci,” Murphy says, “we knew that if we were going to have a successful defense, Matt Thomas would have to have a strong season.”

And there was Thomas, scout team all-star and defense charter extraordinaire. Until Harvard’s 35-0 drubbing of Holy Cross in the 2004 opener, the only snaps Thomas had seen were from the press box.

Now, the afterthought—the once nameless replacement of an Ivy football icon—has tallied 75 tackles and eight sacks, team-leading statistics in both categories.

Thomas sits tied for second in the league in sacks, four behind Dartmouth’s Anthony Gargiulo, and he has terrorized offensive lines all season long.

“When an offensive lineman comes to block him and he puts him on his back,” says senior defensive back Ricky Williamson, “it becomes very demoralizing to realize that no matter what [they] do, [they] can’t block this kid.”

You’d think that by now, opponents would recognize No. 40—or at least fear him. But 2003 All-Ivy linebacker Bobby Everett is the one who generates a lot of interest from opposing offenses, giving Thomas more incentive and freedom to roam the field for smaller running backs.

“If they’re going to focus their game plan on [Everett], he knows that they’re forgetting about me,” Thomas says. “And he knows that I’ll be able to step up and make the play.”

From play-charter to play-maker, Thomas has emerged as one of the top linebackers in the league. After a 12-tackle, two-sack performance in Harvard’s 39-14 demolition of Princeton, Thomas was named Ivy defensive player of the week. His impressive junior season has propelled Harvard’s forgotten defense to second in the Ivies in scoring defense. That same unit has forced 21 turnovers, good for first in the league. And since surrendering 24 points to Cornell, the Crimson defense has allowed an average of 10 points per game over the last five contests.

But that’s all in a week’s work for Thomas, who starts on Monday with a critical analysis of the upcoming weekend’s victim.

Numbers memorized, he’s ready to make a painful introduction.