Harvard Plows Big Green

HANOVER, N.H.--Mother Nature grounded Harvard's aerial attack Saturday, so Harvard simply controlled the ground.

In its most complete performance of the year, the Crimson (4-3, 3-1 Ivy) ran over Dartmouth (1-6, 0-4), behind a season-high 309 yards rushing and a solid defensive performance.

The win puts Harvard in a four-way tie for first place in a wide-open Ivy League race.

Harvard's much-maligned pass defense, formerly ranked last in the country, turned in its second straight impressive performance. The Crimson held Dartmouth to its lowest point total of the season, and the secondary gave up only 113 yards passing.

"The last two weeks allowed us to become a legitimate league contender," Head Coach Tim Murphy said. "Our defense set the pace today, and our offense did what it had to do."

Both teams' game plans were dictated by the weather. A cold, stiff 15 m.p.h. wind blowing straight down the field wreaked havoc on both teams' passing attacks. Rose's first two passes of the game sailed high and well in front of intended receiver Nwokocha, who was standing at the line of scrimmage.

Nwokocha tipped the second of these errant passes into the hands of a diving Big Green cornerback Todd Jelen.

But that would be Rose's only interception of the game. The quarterback adjusted nicely to the blustery conditions, finishing 14-for-24 for 148 yards and a touchdown. Rose limited himself largely to quick, short passes instead of airing the ball out.

Junior tailback Matt Leiszler and sophomore tailback Nick Palazzo--Harvard's own version of thunder and lightning--each gained 79 yards on the ground. Palazzo's game was highlighted by an impressive 39-yard run off left tackle to the Dartmouth 1. The speedy back broke four Big Green tackles on the play and ran through an intentional facemask. Palazzo scored on the next play.

Rose rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown, including a 17-yard scramble on third-and-15 in the second quarter. Sophomore Brent Chalmers added 51 yards in mop-up duty.

Leiszler and Palazzo, buried at the bottom of the depth chart early in the season, have been so impressive that Murphy has converted Nwokocha, the opening-day starter, into a slot receiver.

After some early-game difficulties, Nwokocha has adjusted to his new role. He made a fingertip grab of a Rose pass early in the third quarter for Harvard's final offensive touchdown.

Harvard's running attack was predictable but virtually unstoppable. When the Crimson tried to run right, it was usually stopped by Dartmouth's pursuing linebackers--often behind the line of scrimmage. Rather than abandoning the ground game, Harvard ran left, usually off-tackle runs behind left tackle and senior captain Mike Clare.

"Mike Clare is a dominant player," Murphy said. "He's about as good of player as we can recruit. When in doubt, we run to the left side."

Dartmouth's offense, on the other hand, could not find a rhythm until the game was well out of hand. The Big Green never established a consistent running game, and when it fell behind early, was forced to throw the ball into the wind.

The results were disastrous.

Dartmouth starting quarterback Brian Mann had a day to forget. Against a Harvard secondary ranked near the bottom in the country, Mann repeatedly missed wide-open wideouts, completing only 4-of-16 passes for a paltry 31 yards. Unfortunately for Mann, he completed just as many to Harvard defenders. Going into the game, Harvard had intercepted only three passes all season.

"He really struggled," Dartmouth Head Coach John Lyons said. "He threw some balls that were not good decisions."

Mann was mercifully yanked at halftime for backup Greg Smith. Smith fared better, although he played mostly against Crimson defensive backups and still threw an interception.

Two of Dartmouth's interceptions were returned for touchdowns by freshman linebacker Dante Balestracci.

Balestracci's first pick was the result of good football instincts. Already down 21-0 in the second quarter, Dartmouth lined up in a formation reminiscent of a Steve Spurrier offense. Mann lined up with starting tailback Michael Gratch behind only offensive lineman. The other two linemen were lined up on the far left, in front of a single wide receiver. Two more receivers were split right.

The trickery didn't work. Balestracci, who said the team had prepared for that formation, tipped a shovel pass intended for Gratch, juggled the ball before cradling it and coasting 48 yards for an easy touchdown.

"I just played in-between the QB and back," Balestracci said. "It was just a natural read into the backfield."

It was the first time Harvard returned an interception for a score since Glenn Jackson '98 did it against Cornell in 1998.

Balestracci added a second interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, picking off a Greg Smith pass thrown right at him and racing untouched 53 yards.

Balestracci is believed to be the only linebacker in school history to return two interceptions for scores.

Dartmouth's offense was hampered by the loss of two key players, starting tailback Aaron Pumerantz and star wide receiver Damien Roomets.

Roomets, the seventh-leading receiver in the nation, was kicked off the team and suspended from school for what a Dartmouth statement described as an "altercation with other Dartmouth students." Roomets is expected to re-enter school next semester.

"It really hurt not having him," Lyons said. "It was a bit of a distraction to the team."

Harvard took control of the game in the first quarter. The Crimson won the opening toss but deferred, forcing the Big Green to open the game driving into the wind. The weather neutralized Dartmouth's passing attack on its own, and Harvard continually got great field position as a result of interceptions and short Big Green punts into the wind.

"We felt it was important to get off to a good start and take the wind out of their sails," Murphy said.

After Palazzo's running set up the Crimson's first touchdown, Mann threw his first interception of the game to sophomore free safety Niall Murphy. Mann's pass deflected off of his intended receiver, tight end Casey Cramer, and settled right into the hands of Murphy at midfield.

From there, Leiszler carried the team into the end zone. The tailback figured in all but three plays of the ensuing touchdown drive. Leiszler rushed for 37 yards--all of them off the left side--before Palazzo finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

It only took one play for Dartmouth to give the ball right back. Mann dropped back on first down and overthrew a wide-open receiver. The ball settled into the arms of freshman cornerback Benny Butler, who returned the ball three yards to the Dartmouth 34.

On the ensuing drive, holding penalties overturned a 10-yard Leiszler run and a 13-yard reverse to sophomore wide receiver Carl Morris for a touchdown, but Harvard easily scored anyway. Rose, having adjusted to the wind, sandwiched nine- and 12-yard passes around a pretty 20-yard bullet to Morris, bringing the Crimson to the five. From there Leiszler walked through a huge hole behind Claire for the easy score.

That made it 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. Although Harvard, now itself driving into the wind, would struggle offensively for most of the second quarter, Dartmouth would be forced to throw the ball to catch up.

The Big Green's aerial efforts resulted in two picks, both setting up Harvard scores. Mann's first interception of the quarter led to Balestracci's first touchdown return. Late in the half, his first-down slant pass was picked off by junior free safety Eric LaHaie at the Dartmouth 31.

The wind against it, Harvard stayed mostly on the ground. A double-reverse--Rose to Palazzo to Morris to Nwokocha--gained 14 yards and brought Harvard to the 17. Morris barely got rid of the ball on the play, handing off to Nwokocha right as he was drilled by a Dartmouth defender.

From there, two solid Palazzo runs brought Harvard to a first down on the Big Green 5-yard-line. After a false start and a stuffed option attempt, Rose found sophomore receiver Kyle Cremarosa in the middle of the field for a seven-yard gain to the 3. Rose then fooled everyone, faking to Palazzo before bootlegging out to his right for Harvard's fifth score.

The 35 points Harvard scored in the half tied a school record for most first-half points. The Crimson last scored that many first-half points a year ago, also against Dartmouth.

The only suspense of the second half was whether Harvard could post its first shutout since 1997, as most of the players on the field for both teams were backups.

Dartmouth finally scored late in the third quarter. On fourth-and-goal from the three, Smith's heave was tipped away by Butler in the endzone. Somehow, however, the ball found its way into the hands of Dartmouth receiver Matt DeLellis, who was lying on his back when he made the catch.

Harvard showed great ball control in the half, posting a 14-play, 79-yard touchdown drive to begin the half. and an eight-minute, 17-play marathon drive to run out the clock in the fourth quarter.

But by then Harvard's players were already looking forward to its final three games of the season against Columbia, Princeton, and Yale. Victories would assure the Crimson of at least a share of the Ivy League title.

"We have the iron part of our schedule ahead," Murphy said. "We've got the three best teams in the league left to play."