Relieving the Pressure : Harvard’s Holly Welcomes Switch to I Formation After Toiling as 1-Man Team in the Single Wing

Rubdowns and hot whirlpool baths after every game filled a hefty chapter of the Marty Holly story last season. Holly rushed for 1,284 yards--and probably collected about as many bruises--as tailback in Harvard’s old-fashioned, hike-it-to-Holly, single-wing offense.

All season, it was Holly, Holly, Holly. Running the ball almost exclusively, Harvard rushed for 1,780 yards, 71% of the team’s total offensive output. Holly carried 220 times, averaging 5.8 yards a carry against defenses stacked heavily against him.

Holly took a lot of pounding but managed to hold up.

“Most of the games, by the fourth quarter I was exhausted,” he said. “But it put me in the frame of mind that I could conquer anything, being able to take it.”

Holly, a senior, will not have to take it anymore because Coach Gary Thran has decided to leave it. After only one season, the Saracens’ single wing has flown the coop. Harvard will return to the the more traditional I-formation offense this season.

“The offense is not going to rest squarely on his shoulders anymore,” Thran said of Holly. “We’re going to have other ways to hurt you.”

The single wing, which Thran implemented after watching Holly excel as a rugby player, was born out of necessity, Thran said. Last year, Harvard’s strength was its beefy offensive line and Holly’s ability to spring to his feet after absorbing a helmet to the midsection. But the team lacked skill-position players.

“We went to it because we had to,” Thran said. “And the kids took to it. Had we not used it, we would have been lucky to score a touchdown.”

The single wing, in fact, was far from a failure. Harvard finished 6-4, second in the Santa Fe League, and Holly was selected the league’s back of the year.

In Harvard’s 39-13 opening-round playoff loss to Bloomington, Holly scored one touchdown and rushed for 115 yards. And Harvard scored on its first possession.

“We went down and scored almost immediately,” Thran said. “We got as much from it as we could for that one year and now we’ll go back to the I offense.”

A move Holly embraces.

“It’s kind of a relief,” Holly said, laughing. “Makes me feel better to know there’s someone else out there.”

Someone else--as in several key juniors. Quarterbacks Scott Collins and Tony Choy have been impressive this summer and both have leadership ability, Thran said. Collins, who started for last season’s sophomore team, is the likely starter. Choy was Collins’ backup last year.

The addition of wide receivers Jung Yi, who missed much of last season because of a broken collar bone, and junior Adam Rowins, Collins’ primary target on the sophomore squad, convinced Thran to aim for offensive diversity.

“We wanted to take some pressure off Holly,” Thran said. “We don’t want him to carry the football 50 times a game. Of course, he’s still going to be our big gun on offense. And we’re going to shoot it.”

Holly spent the off-season healing and conditioning and has beefed up from 180 to 200 pounds. “He’s gotten thicker,” Thran said. “It’s good solid weight.”

Holly will remain at tailback but also will be used as a receiver, a new experience--the only passes he caught last season were from the center. Holly had no receptions.

“In retrospect,” Thran said, “it was a lot of pressure to put on a junior. When you look at it, he was the offense. He touched the ball on every play. He knew going into every game that he was going to take a beating and he handled it well.”