Welcome back! After a 41-week break for irrelevant activities such as exams, theses, and Commencement, Harvard football returned on Saturday. To kick off its 152nd season, the Crimson ventured to Wildcat Stadium in Durham, New Hampshire, to take on the University of New Hampshire. Harvard emerged with a solid 31-7 victory that contained one big asterisk (more on that later).
With Stephenson family head coach for Harvard football Andrew Aurich entering his third season, the Crimson are hoping to win a fourth straight Ivy title—they have been co-champions for three years—and venture to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) postseason for a second consecutive year. The voters in the Ivy League’s media preseason poll were somewhat bullish on the Crimson’s chances, picking them to finish second, albeit way behind last year’s co-champion Yale.
HARVARD FOOTBALL
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Saturday’s victory was largely attributable to the Harvard defense. The Crimson sacked New Hampshire quarterback Brooks Bentley seven times, picked off two passes, and, acting like Horatius at the bridge, stymied the Wildcats five times on fourth down, once at the Crimson one-yard line. Marauding senior linebacker Sean Line (a game-high 10 tackles, 3.5 for loss, two sacks) and his compatriot, junior Dorsey Benefield (eight tackles), were wherever a Wildcat ballcarrier was. On Monday, Line was named Ivy League defensive player of the week.
On offense, as has been the case since time immemorial, Harvard has uncovered a fleet of promising running backs to supplement senior captain Xaviah Bascon (54 yards on 15 carries, one touchdown). The prominent newcomers include sophomore Cole Allen (62 yards on 12 carries) and freshman Nathan Bailey (73 all-purpose yards). Working behind a seasoned offensive line, they were able to keep the Crimson moving.
As for the asterisk? It related to the biggest question of the off-season: who would replace All-Ivy Jaden Craig as quarterback? The player who emerged was sophomore Charlie Smith, who won the starting job over senior Dante Torres. Alas, Smith’s debut was a shaky shakedown cruise. He had 11 completions in 19 pass attempts for a mere 71 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Most of the time Smith was inaccurate and struggled to find his receivers.
On Saturday, at least, the rest of the offense picked him up. The game was scoreless until early in the second quarter. Then, Bailey took a punt and returned it for 28 yards to the New Hampshire 32. On first down, senior running back Jordan Harris bounced outside for a 25-yard gain. Four plays later, freshman wildcat formation quarterback Kise Flannery scored the first touchdown of the year on a one-yard run. (The wildcat formation is one in which a predominantly running quarterback is inserted.) Junior placekicker Kieran Corr banged the season’s first extra point through the uprights. Harvard 7, New Hampshire 0.
The Wildcats responded immediately. On the next series, Bentley found wide receiver Ty Carlson all alone down the middle for a 40-yard gain. Six plays later, Bentley surged into the end zone from the one-yard line. Lucas Glassburn converted. Harvard 7, New Hampshire 7.
At the end of the half, the Crimson took command. With just under three minutes to go, Allen rushed five times for 24 yards. Then, from the New Hampshire 23, a reverse: Smith took the snap, headed left—and pitched to Bailey coming the other way. With the Wildcats fooled by the misdirection, Bailey had a clear path to ease into the end zone. Corr kicked. Harvard 14, New Hampshire 7.
Fifty-three seconds remained in the half. The Wildcats tried to take advantage of the time that was left. It backfired. Bentley tossed a pass that Crimson junior defensive back D.J. Vincent-Thomas picked off and returned 30 yards to the New Hampshire 13. On the next play, Smith found Bailey in the end zone. Corr booted. Harvard 21, New Hampshire 7.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats tried to get back in the game. After Smith threw an interception, New Hampshire drove to the Harvard 10. On fourth and inches, the Crimson defense stuffed Bentley. Harvard took over and kept the ball for 13 plays, culminating in a 24-yard Corr field goal. Harvard 24, New Hampshire 7.
At this point the result was hardly in doubt, but the game was salted away after a poor Wildcat punt gave the Crimson the ball at the New Hampshire 25. Smith threw his best pass of the day, to junior running back Maddux Reid at the 10. Reid toted the ball to the three. Two plays later Bascon scored from the one. Corr punctuated. Harvard 31, New Hampshire 7.
The Crimson are now 1-0, as they always seem to be at this juncture (see below). New Hampshire, which plays in the Colonial Athletic Association, was already playing its fourth game of the season, and dropped to 1-3.
No rest for the weary: the first Ivy game of the year, at Brown, awaits on Friday night.
Tidbits
FOR OPENERS: Saturday’s victory was Harvard’s sixth in a row on opening day. It also ran the Crimson’s all-time mark in season openers to 125-25-2. Which is to say, Harvard could lose the next 100 openers and still be at .500.
GRAD MADNESS: With rules now permitting graduates to play an additional year of college football, three prominent members of the Harvard Class of 2026 have landed at Football Bowl Subdivision schools: quarterback Jaden Craig at Texas Christian University (TCU), receiver Cooper Barkate at Miami University, and safety Ty Bartrum at the University of Central Florida (UCF). This coming Saturday, Craig and Bartrum will be looking at each other across the line of scrimmage when TCU travels to Orlando, Florida, to face UCF. A harmonic (or not so) convergence!
HELLO, GOOD BYE: Beginning in the 2027 season, the Ivy League will adopt a midseason bye. In ’27, the time off will occur the weekend of October 23 (formally, Week 7 of the season), which would have been the date of the Princeton game. To maintain the pre-Thanksgiving finish to the season, the opener will be on September 11—one week earlier than in recent years—with the Crimson leaping right into the Ivy cauldron, traveling to New Jersey to tussle with the Tigers.
BOZEMAN, HERE WE COME: To enlarge its football footprint (and mindful of potential playoff seeding), in the coming years Harvard will roam far afield to battle traditional FCS powers. In 2027, the Crimson will host University of California, Davis, a playoff quarterfinalist last year, and in 2031 Harvard will journey to California for a return match. In 2028, Harvard will travel to Bozeman, Montana, to take on rugged Montana State, the current reigning FCS champion. That season the Crimson will also host Wofford. In 2031 and 2032, Harvard will play a home-and-home series with Richmond. All will be first-time opponents.
COMING UP: On Friday evening, Harvard journeys to Providence to play its Ivy opener against Brown. Kickoff: 7 p.m. The game will be telecast on ESPN2 and broadcast on radio at Bloomberg 92.9 FM and WHRB 95.3 FM. In a series that began in 1893, the Crimson lead 91-31-2. Harvard won last year’s matchup in Cambridge 41-7 and has triumphed in 12 of the last 13 meetings.
THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
Harvard | 0 | 21 | 0 | 10 | — | 31 | ||
New Hampshire | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 |
Attendance: 5,169
WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Columbia 40, Lafayette 34
Lehigh 24, Dartmouth 29
Brown 17, New Haven 10
Colgate 20, Cornell 7
Bryant 21, Princeton 14
Yale 38, Holy Cross 28
Penn 20, Bucknell 7
THE SEASON SO FAR: follow Dick Friedman’s dispatches.
Preview: Can Harvard’s Football Team Repeat Its Ivy League Success?
