Harvard's running attack, stopped cold by Brown a week earlier, came to life at Lafayette’s sun-drenched Fisher Stadium on Saturday. Tailback Gino Gordon ’11 ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns, and Harvard gained 311 yards on the ground as the Crimson rolled over the winless Leopards, 35-10.
Gordon scored his first touchdown in the game’s third minute, taking an option pitchout from sophomore quarterback Colton Chapple and slicing into the end zone from two yards out. In the third period Gordon scored again on a zigzagging broken-field run that covered 74 yards and helped Harvard to a 28-3 lead.
Chapple was replacing senior quarterback Andrew Hatch, who had taken a helmet-to-helmet shot on Harvard’s first play of the Brown game and was later found to have a concussion. In his first varsity start, Chapple ran the offense efficiently and threw a nine-yard scoring pass to tight end Kyle Juszczyk ’13 at the start of the second period. He finished the game with six pass completions in 11 attempts, for a total of 82 yards.
Harvard’s other touchdowns came on a five-yard rush by back Treavor Scales ’13 in the second period, and a one-yard rush by back Rich Zajeski ’13 late in the third.
Lafayette quarterback Ryan O’Neil, one of the Patriot League’s top passers, completed 27 of 42 attempts for 210 yards. Crimson defenders sacked him four times and broke up 12 of his passes, while holding the Leopard offense to 60 yards rushing. Linebacker Blaise Deal ’12 led the defense with 10 tackles, two pass breakups, and a sack.
Deal and cornerback D.J. Monroe ’13 both sustained late-game injuries and may be out for the rest of the season. Senior Chris Lorditch, the team’s most accomplished receiver, missed the game because of a knee injury.
In contrast to last week’s dismal showing at Brown Stadium—a farrago of fumbles, interceptions, bungled plays, erratic snaps, and inopportune penalties—the Crimson offense had a fumble-free, interception-free day.
Gordon’s 74-yard breakaway was the longest run of his Harvard career, and the longest for a Crimson back since the Dartmouth game of 2006. Brown had limited the Crimson’s all-Ivy tailback to minus-one rushing yards in five carries the previous week.
Harvard (2-1, 0-1 Ivy) is now 2-0 against Patriot League opponents, posting a combined score of 69-16 against Holy Cross and Lafayette.
The Crimson returns to Ivy action against Cornell (1-2, 0-1 Ivy) at Harvard Stadium next Saturday, kicking off at noon. Harvard entertains its third and last Patriot League rival, Lehigh, on October 16.
In other Ivy contests: previously winless Cornell defeated winless Bucknell, 21-12. Columbia trounced Princeton, 42-14. Penn edged Dartmouth in overtime, 35-28. Brown lost to Rhode Island in overtime, 27-24. Yale lost to Albany, 23-20.
The score by quarters:
Harvard 7 14 14 0 — 35
Lafayette 0 3 0 7 — 10
Attendance: 6,665.
The season so far:
Harvard 34, Holy Cross 6
Brown 29, Harvard 14
Harvard 35, Lafayette 10
