In sophomore Charlie Smith’s first true Ivy League showdown as Harvard quarterback, his first incompletion came at an inopportune time for the Crimson football team. Smith started this weekend’s game against Princeton by completing five straight passes. But the signal-caller sailed his sixth pass over the head of a well-covered Henry Shoemaker and through the uprights at the back of the end zone.
They settled for a field goal, but the Crimson needed a bit better than that. After all, this was a matchup of Ivy unbeatens, and the Crimson’s first conference home game. A packed house of 14,896 inside Harvard Stadium wants to see not just good football, but good quarterback play.
Fortunately, from that point on, Smith was up to the task. A fourth-down stop of the Tigers from the Crimson’s stellar defense gave Harvard possession back. Three plays, 69 yards, and three pinpoint passes perfectly placed by the young quarterback. It ended with Smith finding a tumbling Shoemaker in the corner of the end zone on a 26-yard touchdown pass, a stellar cap to the drive that signaled more to come.
In the end, the Crimson—ranked No. 17 in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) rankings—cruised past Princeton, 35-7, to improve to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in Ivy League play. They stand alone atop the Ivy standings three games in and handed the Tigers (5-2, 2-1 Ivy) their first league loss.
For a young quarterback in what truly felt like a “prove it” game, Smith’s efficiency and poise felt like that of a player two years his senior. He completed 22 of 28 passes, including 13 of 14 to start the game. Smith totaled 230 yards and two touchdowns, and for the second game running did not throw an interception.
“He’s just got some moxie to him,” said Stephenson family head coach for Harvard football Andrew Aurich postgame.
The Crimson’s opening drive, marked by multiple crucial conversions, got on the board. First, tight end Seamus Gilmartin got a great block from freshman wideout Nate Bailey to convert on third-and-long. Power-running quarterback freshman Kise Flannery plowed up the middle on two fourth downs. But the Tigers’ stingy red-zone defense stood tall to get a goal-to-go stop. Junior Kieran Corr connected from 24 yards out to complete the 10-minute drive. Harvard 3, Princeton 0.
Princeton’s march down the field in response was ill-fated. Senior linebacker Sean Line and sophomore defensive lineman Achilles Anderson combined to stop running back Eli Friend on fourth down.
That set the table for Smith’s brilliant sequence. A strike at the left hashmarks to sophomore Tafari Moe for 17 yards, a bullet over the middle to a wide-open senior Logan Reaska for 26, then some help from Shoemaker. A jump ball to the corner of the end zone saw the six-foot-five freshman wideout jostle with Princeton corner Evan Haynie. Then, as the defender fell to the turf, Shoemaker began to fall over him. But as he dropped to his back, Shoemaker kept enough focus to track and catch the floater, landing in for six from 26 yards out. Harvard 10, Princeton 0.
“These guys are making plays for me,” Smith said postgame. “It gives you so much confidence because—you’d like to throw a perfect ball, but if it’s not, these guys are going to make plays, and this line is giving me so much time back there.”
Coming right back down the field after a fourth-down stop, the Crimson spent over six minutes going from their own 25 to the Princeton 17. But on first down from there, a pass over the middle intended for Bailey was broken up by a crunching hit from linebacker Chase Christopher right on the cusp of the end zone. Initially called for targeting, it was properly overturned on review. Harvard stalled, and Corr swept it through from 32. Harvard 13, Princeton 0.
On the first drive of the second half, the Crimson dialed up the trickery. After steadily working the ball down the field, the Crimson brought in Flannery for a fourth-and-two from the 18. Having only been used for runs so far this year, the Tigers—rather rightly—anticipated one. But the freshman dropped back for his first collegiate pass attempt, finding sophomore tight end Teigan Pelletier in the flat. He took it right to the end zone. Harvard 19, Princeton 0.
Now up 19 before the point after, the Crimson went for two. With the offensive line out wide, they called on the wide receiver Bailey to report as eligible and snap the ball back to Smith with no Crimson blockers around him. Smith flipped it right back to Bailey to shuffle in for two, thriving off the Tigers’ confusion. Harvard 21, Princeton 0.
Princeton’s first scoring drive of the day finally came on their first possession of the third. Wyatt Becker, back in at quarterback through the Tigers’ unorthodox two-quarterback rotation, completed five passes and flipped one out to wideout Aidan Besselman to scamper in from eight yards out. Despite its productivity in getting the Tigers on the board, the drive took nearly 10 minutes off the clock. Harvard 21, Princeton 7.
| Photograph courtesy of Harvard Athletics
Smith got right back in rhythm. He completed all three of his passes and, aided by a roughing the passer penalty to add 15 yards, found the end zone again. From 18 yards out, he dropped one over the shoulder of Tafari Moe for another score. Harvard 28, Princeton 7.
Ten minutes remaining was early enough to put a cherry on top for the Crimson. Three Crimson rushers blitzed in without a touch at quarterback Ty Ciongoli, and junior defensive back Xaden Benson forced a fumble with the sack (he can force turnovers other than interceptions, too). Junior linebacker Dorsey Benefield scooped it up and ran home 30 yards for paydirt. Harvard 35, Princeton 7.
The gauntlet begins 1-0.
Tidbits
TURNING THEM OVER: With the fumble returned for a touchdown and a late interception from AJ Lopez, the Crimson have forced two or more turnovers in six of their seven games this year. His forced fumble gave Benson seven forced turnovers this year, going with his nation-leading six interceptions.
GOOD TO BE BACK: Junior DJ Gordon returned to the Harvard lineup for the first time this year, with last year’s All-Ivy Third Teamer gaining 67 yards on nine carries. “I’m just happy to be back,” he said postgame. “We have so many great running backs in that room. I feel like the O line has a little bit more juice as well.”
COMING UP: Harvard plays on Friday next week, traveling up to Hanover, New Hampshire, to take on Dartmouth in a 7 p.m. kickoff as the second of five straight Ivy games. The matchup will feature on ESPN+, and on Bloomberg Radio 92.9 FM and WHRB 95.3 FM. It’s a series that the Crimson lead 75-48-5, with four straight wins and 18 of their last 21. The Big Green will feel good as winners of two straight and coming off a 38-18 win over Columbia.
THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
Princeton | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 7 | ||
Harvard | 3 | 10 | 8 | 14 | — | 35 |
Attendance: 14,896
WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Penn 24, Yale 0
Dartmouth 38, Columbia 18
Brown 38, Cornell 31
THE SEASON SO FAR: follow Dick Friedman’s dispatches.
Preview: Can Harvard’s Football Team Repeat Its Ivy League Success?
Crimson Football: Harvard 31, UNH 7
Crimson Football: Harvard 14, Brown 10
Crimson Football: Harvard 20, Colgate 17
