Harvard Football: Harvard 31, Dartmouth 10

With quarterback Jaden Craig whipping passes through the blustery Stadium wind like projectiles (and in the process setting a new school record), Harvard’s football team on Saturday assumed sole possession of first place in the Ivy League by beating Dartmouth 31-10. The Crimson remained unbeaten: 7-0 overall and 4-0 in Ivy play; Dartmouth dropped to 5-2, 2-2. After the victory, Harvard moved up three spots in the national Stats Performance Football Championship Series Poll and is now ranked No. 9.

Craig, a senior, threw four touchdown passes. His third, a nine-yarder to sophomore tight end Logan Reaska in the fourth quarter, was Craig’s 42nd for Harvard, breaking the career touchdown pass record previously held by Neil Rose ’03. Craig, who later added No. 43, has three games remaining to augment that mark.

On the other side of the ball, the defense, led by junior linebacker Sean Line with a game-high-tying 12 tackles, blunted a high-powered Dartmouth offense, holding it to a meager 261 total yards, with the vaunted Big Green rushing attack limited to 61.

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“We control our destiny,” said a happy but never satisfied Andrew Aurich, the Stephenson family coach for Harvard football. As for Craig—considered by some to be the best quarterback in the FCS today—the Crimson signal-caller deflected praise about his record-setting accomplishment. “It’s just a testament to my coaches, my teammates, and everyone around me who’s lifted me up and made me a better player and person,” he said. Humility aside, for his performance Craig was named the Ivy League’s offensive player of the week for the second time this season.

The game was billed as a showdown: if Dartmouth had won, they would have vaulted into a share of first place. Early on, Harvard did its best to make sure that would not occur.

As has so often happened this season, the Crimson scored on its first possession. The 230-pound Craig showed he has more than one dimension. On third and five from the Harvard 45, Craig took the snap, saw his receivers covered, and legged it to the sticks for the first down. Later in the series, from the Dartmouth 14, Craig hit Sean Gilmartin at the one and the six-foot-four senior tight end fell across the goal line. Sophomore Kieran Corr kicked the extra point. With less than six minutes gone, it was Harvard 7, Dartmouth 0.

Later in the quarter the Crimson got the ball at their 25. On third and nine, Craig took the snap, scanned the field, and saw wideout Brady Blackburn speeding down the right side. Craig unleashed it downfield. Blackburn was blanketed by Dartmouth defensive back Patrick Campbell but as the ball approached, Blackburn made the proper adjustment to grab it, then ran the remaining 37 yards into the end zone. (Blackburn continues to do a passable imitation of the departed Cooper Barkate, who on Saturday caught six passes for Duke in its 46-45 win over Clemson.) Corr kicked. Harvard 14, Dartmouth 0.

Later in the quarter Corr booted a 38-yard field goal—into the stiff wind—to make it 17-0, which was the score at halftime.

Showing their class, the Big Green did not fold. On the opening drive of the second half, they went 75 yards in 12 plays, with quarterback Grayson Saunier scoring from the one. Owen Zalc kicked the conversion. Harvard 17, Dartmouth 7. (By the way, the Big Green lead the league in Graysons, with Saunier and wide receiver Grayson O’Bara.)

After the Crimson went three-and-out, the Big Green recommenced driving, reaching the Harvard 20, where on third and six Saunier was sacked by Crimson sophomore Christian Nwosu and junior Jake Darling. Whereupon Zalc, with the wind at his back, kicked an impressive 46-yard field goal. Harvard 17, Dartmouth 10.

Were we destined to sweat out the kind of fourth-quarter nail-biter that has characterized play between these ancient rivals? Craig was determined not to let that happen. With the third quarter winding down, he threw two key third-down completions, one to Reaska for 18 yards, the other to senior tight end Dean Boyd for 19. (On the day, Harvard was a nifty 9-for-15 on third-down conversions, demoralizing to the foe.)

The fourth quarter began, and Craig was soon faced with a fourth-and-nine from the Dartmouth 38. He got it—barely—with a nine-yard pass to Boyd. But a roughing-the-passer penalty was tacked on against Dartmouth, which moved the ball to the Big Green 14. (The infraction needed a video replay, but Craig was smeared a bit too long after the ball was in the air.) On the next play Craig pitched left to Reaska at the nine, and the 260-pound tight end rumbled into the end zone to give Craig the record-breaker. Corr converted. Harvard 24, Dartmouth 10.

Plenty of time remained, but on its ensuing series Dartmouth faced a fourth-and-one from its 34. Behind by two scores and without a top-notch passing game, coach Sammy McCorkle decided to go for it. Saunier tried the middle—and was stuffed by what seemed like the entire Harvard defense.

Craig then administered the coup de grace. On the next play he threw down the right side to an open Gilmartin, who ran the final 12 yards into the end zone. Corr punctuated. Harvard 31, Dartmouth 10—the final score. Craig finished with 21 completions in 32 attempts for a season-high 322 yards, albeit with two interceptions, one on a tip.

After impressively dispatching Princeton and Dartmouth, the Crimson head into the season’s final three games. As Aurich says, their destiny is in their hands. Two of these three games are against teams with only one loss: Penn and Yale. Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy November.

Tidbits

EXTENDING THE MARGIN: Harvard now leads the series with Dartmouth 75-48-5 and has won the last four.

THE 300: The victory was Harvard’s Ivy-leading 300th in league play. Dartmouth is next with 286.

THE UNDEFEATED: Harvard is unblemished after seven games for the first time since 2015. The Crimson are also one of five FCS teams that are undefeated this season. The others are North Dakota State, Montana, Lehigh, and Tennessee Tech.

COMING UP: On Friday night, the Crimson invade New York City to take on Ivy rival Columbia. Kickoff: 7 p.m. The game will be telecast on ESPN2 and broadcast on the radio on WBOS 92.9 FM and Bloomberg 1330 AM and 1450 AM. This season, the Lions are 1-6 overall and 0-4 in Ivy play. In a series that began in 1877, Harvard leads 65-16-1. The Crimson have won the last two, including last year’s 26-6 victory in Cambridge.

THE SCORE BY QUARTERS

Attendance: 11,334

WEEKLY ROUNDUP

Cornell 20, Princeton 17

Penn 28, Brown 21

Yale 24, Columbia 10