Crimson Tramples Light Blue, 27-12

Despite committing 14 penalties, Harvard dictated the momentum in Saturday’s game at Kraft Field, beating Columbia 27-12 for their fifth-straight Ivy League win and the Lions’ fifth-straight conference loss.

Unlike Yale last week, Harvard didn’t waste any time getting their offense into gear. The Crimson moved the ball 71 yards on 13 plays to set up the first score of the game, a scoring pass from quarterback Chris Pizzotti to receiver Corey Mazza for the touchdown.

Columbia answered with an eight-play drive, highlighted by an 18-yard pass from Craig Hormann to Austin Knowlin. An overthrow on third-and-six forced a field goal, which Jon Rocholl hit from 24 yards.

Columbia head coach Norries Wilson said that he originally planned on not attempting any field goals due to a lackluster 3-for-9 average so far this season, but the Lions completed two against Harvard. The second was a 33-yarder at the start of the second quarter to make the score 7-6. Harvard scored again on a nine-yard carry by running back Cheng Ho to make the score 13-6, which is how it would stay to end the first half.

Columbia had elected to play against the wind in the third quarter after losing the opening coin toss. Wilson cited this decision as a coaching mistake that may have impacted the outcome of the game.

“I think that I made a fatal flaw in the game,” he said. “I decided to give them the wind in the third quarter because we had been playing decent defense, intending to keep it close and have the wind in the fourth quarter. I don’t think that I put the team in the best position they could be in in the second half.”

Harvard opened the second half with a 68-yard touchdown drive that Wilson referred to as “a punch in the face.” The Lions put up a fight in the red zone, as it took the Crimson four tries from the two-yard line before the team finally scored on a quarterback keeper.

The Crimson defense smothered Hormann throughout the second half, notching two sacks, numerous quarterback hurries, and virtually eliminating the passing game that had been Columbia’s only asset on offense. The Lions didn’t cross midfield once in the third quarter.

Harvard head coach Tim Murphy cited his defensive ends, and not increased blitzing, as the reason for the increased pressure.

“There wasn’t a ton of blitzing,” Murphy said. “They were giving us so much 10-personnel—one back, no tight ends. A lot of it was [the defensive linemen] beating their guys one-on-one.”

Harvard scored its final touchdown of the game on an inside run by Ho to start the fourth quarter. This put the Crimson in a position where it could play safe and try to conserve its 21-point lead. The Lions narrowed that margin to 15 with a touchdown pass from Hormann to Knowlin, who made a leaping catch in the endzone for the score. Jon Rocholl’s PAT attempt sailed left, making it the first missed extra point from the junior this season.

With 5:33 left in the game, Harvard came on the field prepared for an onside kick from the Lions, but Rocholl kicked it deep to the two-yard line, and an unfortunate bounce put it through the endzone for a touchback. The Columbia defense stopped the ensuing drive, but not before Harvard had burned four minutes off the clock.

Columbia took the ball on their 13-yard line with one last chance to score. On first down, Hormann stepped back, targeted Austin Knowlin, then saw the ball sail into the hands of Harvard’s Doug Hewlett. Harvard would let the clock wind down and head back to Cambridge with a 27-12 win.

Yale and Harvard now stand alone as the only Ivy League teams with perfect in-conference records, while Columbia is the only Ivy team with a winless conference record heading into the final two weeks of the season.