The next week against Dartmouth, Morris had one reception, but the Crimson won 49-7. Morris was huge, though, in last week's loss to Penn. He was on the receiving end of half of junior quarterback Neil Rose's 16 completions, and had two long touchdown receptions.

"My main weakness is inconsistency, and every once in a while you just hit a lapse," Morris said. "But I'm working really hard to improve on that."

One of the keys to his success is his talented teammates in the receiving corps, including sophomore Kyle Cremarosa and junior Sam Taylor, who deflect defensive attention away from him.

"We knew we had a strong receiving squad returning, and it was important for us to establish an identity," Morris said. "So far we've done a really good job, and everyone is taking responsibility for themselves."

The numbers certainly bear that out.

Junior quarterback Neil Rose has been blasting through records, setting Harvard single-season marks for completions (175) and yards passing in a season (2,345). Morris has been a major part of that, leading the team with 778 yards on 47 catches through nine games. In fact, Rose set the passing yards record on a 77-yard touchdown pass to Morris after he caught the ball seven yards from scrimmage and legged out the last 70.

"I like getting isolation coverage, going one-on-one," Morris said. "It puts me in a position to make plays. On the big plays, I have to make the first guy miss, and then it's pretty much a footrace. I like it when the defense is scrambling."

The former soccer nut now is an avowed football devotee. Morris readily admits his commitment to football rarely leaves him time for much else. The economics concentrator, however, did take advantage of his summer in the area. He worked for a property management group near Government Center while training in the off-season.

"I don't know what I really want to get into. I thought about I-banking for a while," Morris said. "But I think I want to run a business."

For the time being, Morris concerns himself with running solid routes and is good at improvising with the ball. His outright speed and vertical ability make him the team's main receiver and punt returner, but perhaps most telling is his relationship with Rose.

"It took us a while to get used to different quarterbacks in preseason, you know, looking for 'the one,'" Morris said, commenting on the early quarterback controversy between sophomore Barry Wahlberg, Rose and freshman Conor Black. "Once we found Neil, it made me very comfortable."

Morris's trust in Rose stems from the past summer. Both players stayed in Cambridge over vacation, working on improving their game. For Morris, it was an opportunity not only to gain the conditioning he would need for star status (it would be only his fourth year of competitive football), but also to form a connection with the man who would be throwing him the ball.

"One of the most important things Neil did this summer was step up and do what he had to do--running, passing and so on," Morris said. "I did the same thing. We spent time in the weight room together. We threw around, getting a feel for each other. He got everything down. This summer we really bonded."

The Rose-to-Morris combination is crucial to Harvard's success in The Game, which ought to feature plenty of offense. Although he is disappointed that Harvard is out of Ivy title contention, Morris is not a "coulda, shoulda" player. He took the Cornell and Penn losses to heart, but insists he will be up for Yale.

"I look forward to playing the best teams," Morris says. "The bigger the game, the more I get up for it."

There is no bigger game than The Game, and Harvard definitely needs Morris to be up for it.