Rock on: Scoring early and often, Harvard defeated an injury-depleted Columbia team, 34-14, at the Lions' Kraft Field on Saturday. The Crimson now has an 11-game winning streak against Ivy League rivals, but that will be on the line when Penn comes to the Stadium next weekend. Both squads are 5-0 in Ivy play and 6-2 overall.
In perfect football weather, Harvard scored 21 first-quarter points and added a late-second-period field goal to take a 24-0 halftime lead. A third-period touchdown drive and another field goal increased the margin to 34-0 at the start of the final quarter.
Columbia--described by Harvard coach Tim Murphy as having had "little or no luck" this season--was without six regular starters, including stellar quarterback M. A. Olawale and running back Ray Rangel, the Ivies' second-ranking ground-gainer. The Lions (1-4, 2-6) had shut out Princeton, 38-0, in the teams' Ivy opener, but have been winless since then.
Gino Gordon ’11 and Treavor Scales ’13, alternating at running back, rushed for three Harvard touchdowns, with quarterback Collier Winters ’11 passing for another. The Crimson defense yielded 294 passing yards, but held the Lion rushing attack to a net of minus-18 yards on 21 carries.
Taking a short opening kickoff, Harvard marched downfield on a 59-yard scoring drive that ended when Scales knifed into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown. Columbia went three-and-out on its first possession, and when the team's freshman kicker mishandled a punt snap, Harvard linebacker Nick Hasselberg ’10 recovered the ball on the Lions' 12-yard line. Winters promptly drilled a pass to freshman tight end Kyle Juszczyk, and Harvard was up 14-0 after five minutes of play.
Another Columbia turnover led to a third Crimson score. When senior defensive back Ryan Barnes intercepted at Harvard’s 13-yard line — snuffing out the first Lion drive of the game — the Crimson offense needed only five plays to get into the end zone again. This time Gordon did the honors with a six-yard burst.
Columbia twice got inside the Harvard 10-yard line as the second quarter unfolded. But an apparent touchdown was negated by a penalty, and two further scoring attempts were short-circuited when the Harvard defense forced fumbles.
With just one second left in the half, Harvard raised its lead to 24-0 on senior Patrick Long’s 28-yard field goal.
Gordon rushed for a three-yard touchdown in the third period, and an interception by senior linebacker Jon Takamura at the start of the fourth period gave Harvard one more scoring chance. With freshman Colton Chapple quarterbacking the second offensive unit, the Crimson added three more points on a 29-yard field goal by Long.
Against Harvard’s defensive reserves, Columbia managed two late touchdowns in the last seven minutes of play. Austin Knowlin, the Lions’ outstanding senior receiver, ended the game with eight catches for 64 yards. With 2,417 receiving yards in his four-year college career, he is now Columbia’s all-time leading pass-catcher.
Crimson quarterback Collier Winters completed 19 of 30 passes for 214 yards, sustaining scoring drives with a 33-yard throw to Adam Chrissis ’12 and a 26-yarder to Matt Luft ’10. Winters was intercepted twice. In his eight starts, he’s thrown just seven interceptions.
Freshman Kyle Juszczyk, making his first start at tight end, finished the game with five catches for 42 yards. Junior receiver Marco Iannuzzi, who doubles as the team’s kickoff- and punt-return specialist, also caught five passes for 35 yards.
Harvard has now won six straight against Columbia, and has taken 10 of the teams’ last 11 matches. The Lions remain tied with Cornell and Princeton for last place in the Ivy standings.
in other ivy action: Penn unlimbered its passing attack in a 42-7 rout of Princeton (1-4, 2-6). In New Haven, Brown (3-2, 5-3) piled up 494 yards of total offense against the highly ranked defense of Yale (2-3, 4-4). Other than Harvard and Penn, Brown is the only Ivy team with a winning record.…Saturday’s Harvard-Penn showdown kicks off at noon at the Stadium. It will pit the Ivy League’s top scoring offense (Harvard’s, with 28.9 points per game) against the top scoring defense (Penn’s, with 11.0 ppg).…In the past decade, Harvard and Penn have split their series, 5-5. Over the same period, Harvard's record against all other Ivy teams is 50-10.
The score by quarters:
Harvard 21 3 7 3 — 34
Columbia 0 0 0 14 — 14
Attendance: 2,896
THE SEASON SO FAR
Holy Cross 27, Harvard 20
Harvard 24, Brown 21
Harvard 28, Lehigh 14
Harvard 28, Cornell 10
Lafayette 35, Harvard 18
Harvard 37, Princeton 3
Harvard 42, Dartmouth 21
Harvard 34, Columbia 14
