But for an egregious call in the Crimson’s favor, last Friday night’s game at the Stadium between Harvard and Cornell might have become a real nail-biter. As things turned out, in the fourth quarter the heavily favored Crimson was able to reassert its might and prevail 34-10. The victory brought Harvard’s season record to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play; the scrappy if luckless Big Red dropped to 0-4, 0-2.
The Crimson, who came into the game ranked No. 22 in the national Stats Performance Football Championship Series poll, had to work hard for this triumph. The score at the beginning of the fourth quarter was 17-10. Star Harvard quarterback Jaden Craig, who entered the game with a 74.6% mark passing, had what for him was an off day, with 21 completions in 37 attempts and one touchdown; he also tossed his first interception of the season. (The Big Red showed maybe—just maybe—a way to harness Craig: rush only three men and drop eight to blanket the Crimson receivers.)
In its first three games Harvard totaled eight penalties; against Cornell it committed five. The real star was the Crimson defense, which limited the Big Red to 193 yards of total offense (Harvard amassed 413) and scored two touchdowns on turnovers. Junior linebacker Sean Line had a team-leading 10 tackles. Senior defensive tackle Alex DeGrieck was a terror with two sacks, three tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.
“I walked back and forth between both sides of the ball and I was telling them, ‘We have adversity, let’s see how we respond,’” said Stephenson family head coach for Harvard football Andrew Aurich of the tightening of the game in the fourth quarter. “Obviously, when you end up winning 34-10, it was a very good response.”
HARVARD FOOTBALL
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In the early going it looked like the Crimson would have its fourth consecutive ho-hum rout. On the Big Red’s first series of the game, Cornell back Ricardo Lagares Jr. fumbled a pitch from quarterback Garrett Bass-Sulpizio (who goes by the nickname “Vito.”). Harvard junior defensive back Damien Henderson scooped up the ball at the Big Red 36 and, untouched, ran it into the end zone. Sophomore Kieran Corr kicked the extra point. Harvard 7, Cornell 0.
Though the Crimson continued to move the ball, once reaching the Big Red 13, its next score did not come until the middle of the second period. Harvard went on a 13-play, 52-yard drive that consumed 6:26. Craig rode junior running back Jordan Harris for 21 of those yards and hooked up with sophomore wide receiver Brady Blackburn for two completions that gained 25 yards. (Blackburn would finish the day with a game-high five catches for 101 yards.)
With the ball on the Cornell two-yard line, Craig stayed calm in the face of Big Red blitz and tossed to sophomore tight end Ben Alvarez for a touchdown. Corr converted. Harvard 14, Cornell 0. Though Corr missed a 45-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the half, it didn’t seem as if it would matter.
Early in the third quarter Corr got that one back, booting a 22-yarder to make it Harvard 17, Cornell 0. Then came the Big Red counterattack. Bass-Sulpizio mixed his plays on a nine-play, 64-yard series that culminated in his sneaking over the goal. Jonathan Roost kicked the extra point. Harvard 17, Cornell 7.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, culminating an 11-play, 53-yard drive, Roost snuck a 25-yard field goal just inside the right upright. Harvard 17, Cornell 10.
The Crimson attempted to regain control. On the first play of the ensuing series, Craig lofted a perfect ball that dropped into Blackburn’s arms for a 48-yard gain. Harvard reached the Big Red 13. Then came the play that could—and should—have meant disaster for the Crimson. On third-and-six, Craig threw left to junior tight end Seamus Gilmartin. It looked like Gilmartin had control of the ball—the determinant of a reception—but as he started to run, he lost it. A Cornell defender grabbed it and began running it back, untouched. But the officials whistled the play dead and ruled that Gilmartin did not have possession and thus the pass was incomplete.
On replays shown on the national ESPNU telecast, Gilmartin seemed to have control and afterward made a so-called “football move” (beginning to run) that would indicate a completion. But after much time spent viewing a replay, the officials let the incompletion stand. This only can be described as a lousy call, especially when on the next play Corr kicked a 30-yard field goal. Harvard 20, Cornell 10.
Thereupon the Crimson salted the game away, on its next series going 61 yards in nine plays, with Craig running the ball in himself from the Big Red four; Corr booted the point. Harvard 27, Cornell 10. On Cornell’s first play of its ensuing series, Bass-Sulpizio threw a pass that was deflected into the hands of Crimson junior defensive back Jack Donahoe, who took it back 39 yards to the house. Corr again drilled the point. Harvard 34, Cornell 10.
Happy as he was with the outcome, Aurich was not happy with the sloppiness. “There’s a lot that we have to work on—on both sides off the ball,” he said. Even DeGrieck said, “There’s always stuff to clean up.” Now, that’s indoctrination! Get ready for a rugged week of practice.
Tidbits
WIDENING THE MARGIN: Friday’s victory, the sixth in a row over Cornell, gives the Crimson a 53-34-2 all-time record against the Big Red.
NIGHT MOVES: The Crimson is now 22-3 all-time in night games. Harvard has one more game under the lights this season: Friday, November 7 at Columbia.
WATCH OUT FOR BASCON: Next year in Ithaca, Cornell probably should key on Harvard running back Xaviah Bascon. On Friday, Bascon had 23 carries (for a game-high 94 yards), matching his career high, which was amassed last year—against Cornell.
COMING UP: The Crimson completes its two-game homestand this coming Saturday, October 18, when it meets Merrimack, its final non-Ivy opponent. Kickoff: noon. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on the radio on WBOS 92.9 FM and Bloomberg 1330 AM and 1450 AM. This season, the Warriors are 3-4. (They do not belong to a conference.) The only previous meeting between the teams occurred in 2022; Harvard won 28-21 in overtime.
THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
Cornell | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | — | 10 | ||
Harvard | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 | — | 34 |
Attendance: 6,644
WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Brown 29, Bryant 19
Lehigh 31, Columbia 7
Dartmouth 17, Yale 16
Penn 28, Marist 9
Mercer 38. Princeton 14
THE SEASON SO FAR: follow Dick Friedman’s dispatches.
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