Football dominated by Harvard in blowout

After just 15 minutes of play, Columbia was down 21-0 to the Harvard Crimson, and on their heels.

It started out badly for the Lions (2-6, 1-3 Ivy) after Harvard marched down the fild and scored on its first possession in under four minutes. When Columbia got the ball back, a bad snap flew over punter Mike Williamson’s head, and Harvard recovered, putting the Crimson (6-2, 5-0 Ivy) at the Lions’ 12-yard line. A Collier Winters pass to Kyle Juszczyk put Harvard up 14-0 after just seven and a half minutes.

“They’ve got good athletes, but they’ve had little or no luck this year quite frankly,” Harvard head coach Tim Murphy said. “And you think that they can become a little bit emotionally fragile, so you’d love to get off to a good start and jump on them.”

Harvard didn’t let up. After the Lions held the Crimson to a three-and-out, the Harvard defense came up big, intercepting freshman quarterback Sean Brackett to keep the Light Blue from getting into the red zone.

Brackett got his second straight start as a shoulder injury kept senior Millicent Olawale on the sidelines for the second week in a row. Murphy wasn’t complaining.

“He’s [Olawale] one of those guys that, when he’s on, he makes the rest of the team walk a little taller and play a little bit better,” Murphy said. “To expect Columbia to play anywhere near as well without him is just unrealistic, and we were fortunate to take advantage of that.”

Harvard took advantage all right, scoring again as Gino Gordon ran untouched into the end zone from the six-yard line, putting the Crimson up 21-0 with two minutes left in the first quarter. Gordon finished the day with just 63 yards, but had two touchdowns and averaged over five yards per carry.

And then the game became a comedy of errors. A Brackett pass to junior Mike Stephens put the Lions at the Harvard eight-yard line. On the next play, Brackett scrambled behind the line of scrimmage trying to escape pressure and find an open receiver in the end zone. He ended up losing eight yards and the ball. Harvard’s Sean Hayes recovered to keep the Lions off the scoreboard.

“I thought Sean was pressing a little bit,” Columbia head coach Norries Wilson said. “He made a couple freshman mistakes today.”

The Lions got the ball back as cornerback Ross Morand intercepted Winters, but this time it was sophomore quarterback Jerry Bell who went into the huddle. Bell completed his first three passes, all to senior Taylor Joseph, putting the Lions again in scoring position at the Harvard four-yard line.

But sophomore Leon Ivery fumbled the ball after getting the handoff, and Harvard recovered yet again. Columbia was flagged for sideline interference after the play, giving Harvard the ball at its own nine-yard line.

Harvard’s Gordon brought the ball out to the 30-yard line, but Winters’ first pass since Morand’s interception went again to a player in Light Blue. This time it was senior Jared Morine who picked off the pass. Morine, who had scored on his previous two interceptions this season, ended his streak of pick sixes but saved a touchdown.

The Crimson went into the locker room after a field goal put them up 24-0. As the Lions left the field, Wilson kept the defense back, telling them that limiting the Crimson to three points in the entire second quarter was not a disappointment.

“They had their heads down, and they were dejected. And I told them that was a good stop,” Wilson said. “That wasn’t a good job. I thought it was a great job.”

On the Crimson’s first possession after the half, Harvard marched 72 yards down the field for Gordon’s second touchdown on the day. The third quarter ended with Harvard leading 31-0.

Columbia avoided the shutout after Nico Papas recovered a muffed punt by Harvard. Junior tailback Zack Kourouma punched it in the end zone from two yards out three plays later, and Columbia was on the board, trailing 34-7.

On the Lions’ next possession, Bell completed six straight pass attempts to five different receivers before hooking up with tight end Andrew Kennedy for a 10-yard score, to put the Lions down 20 in what would be the final score: 34-14.

Columbia finished the day with 18 yards rushing and just short of 300 yards passing, the most passing yards of the season so far. Bell finished 22-for-42 for 226 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Senior wideout Austin Knowlin led the team with 64 receiving yards, allowing him to break the 25-year-old record for career reception yards at Columbia. Knowlin now has 2,417 yards over his career as a Lion.

Wilson called the game and his team’s performance “a surprise.”

“I thought that we would play better and that we had learned as a team that you have to play 60 minutes of football just to give yourself an opportunity to win the football game,” Wilson said. “And we are still unfortunately growing into that.”