Football Holds on to Defeat Tigers, 28-26

The Harvard football team almost saw its dream of an undefeated season disappear at the hands of senior Princeton kicker Taylor Northrop in Saturday’s 28-26 victory over the visiting Tigers.

Coming off a decisive 26-6 victory over Cornell, the Crimson (5-0, 3-0 Ivy) had its hands full with the Tigers (1-4, 1-2 Ivy), who nearly won the game on a last-second, 49-yard field goal attempt. Northrup’s attempt sailed wide left.

The Tigers’ defense excelled, forcing four Crimson turnovers, including three in the first half. Princeton’s offense, led by junior running back Cameron Atkinson (83 yards rushing, two TDs) and junior wide receiver Chisom Opara (111 yards) capitalized on these miscues, with a second quarter TD and field goal. Taylor Northrop’s foot, however, was the Tigers’ most potent weapon.

As a punter, Northrop averaged 41 yards per punt, including an impressive 52-yarder that gave the Tigers excellent field position throughout the game. As a kicker, Northrop successfuly connected from 43 and 42 yards out, and banged three extra-points way up off the Murr center wall. His only miscue came when it mattered most.

“I don’t really watch my balls go through [the goalposts],” Northrop said. “I look up and the ball is pretty much already through. I was [looking] down for half a second and I thought, ‘Yes, I hit it nice.’ I looked up and it did not go through. I am stunned.”

Equally stunning was the resolve of the Crimson, who was able to cope with the losses of veteran running backs Nick Palazzo and Josh Staph and quarterback Neil Rose and still escape with the victory.

Palazzo, a junior, injured his hamstring prior to the game. Because of Palazzo’s absence, Rose took to the air and began with a strong passing game, completing 10 of his 11 pass attempts and setting up two Staph TDs from the one yard line. Harvard initially appeared to be in complete control, leading 14-3 early in the second quarter.

Then, Rose threw his first interception in 111 pass attempts this season, a badly thrown ball up the middle, which was picked off by Princeton senior linebacker Chris Roser-Jones. The Tigers would score a minute later on sophomore quarterback Dave Splithoff’s nine-yard TD pass to junior tight end Mike Chiusano.

Staph left the game after aggravating an old ankle injury, and Rose was shaken up on the ensuing drive. Harvard Coach Tim Murphy replaced Rose with freshman Ryan Fitzpatrick. After a weak punt by the Crimson’s Adam Kingston, the Tigers’ offense remained effective and scored less than two minutes later on a seven-yard TD run by Atkinson, cutting Harvard’s lead to 14-10.

The Crimson offense, now led by Fitzpatrick and senior running back Rodney Thomas, faltered. Rose later returned to the game, only to throw his second interception, which was caught near the sideline by junior corner Paul Simbi. With momentum clearly on its side, Princeton added to its lead with Northrop’s 42-yarder just before the two-minute warning.

The Crimson nearly took the lead in the half’s final minute. With the ball at the Princeton 25, Rose hit senior wide receiver Sam Taylor several yards shy of the end zone. The crowd roared as Taylor bolted for the score, extending the football as far as he could, only to have it knocked loose at the goal line by sophomore strong safety Sam Snyder, leaving spectators in stunned silence. Senior linebacker Bob Farrell recovered the ball at the one, and Princeton then ran out the clock, ending Harvard’s hopes for the time.

After the disastrous ending to the half, it seemed as if the Crimson might never recover. In Harvard’s opening series of the second half, Rose threw his third interception, simply overthrowing a long pass that was run down by Simbi.

The Tigers failed to capitalize, and after a couple of lackluster drives, the Crimson finally created an opportunity to turn the game around. With seven and a half minutes remaining in the third and the Tigers facing a third-and-6 on the Harvard 38, tremendous defensive pressure forced Splithoff towards the sideline. Senior strong safety Andy Fried came up form behind and knocked the ball loose. Crimson captain and left tackle Ryan FitzGerald recovered the fumble at Harvard’s 40.

With the burden falling to the Crimson offense, Murphy pulled one his finest tricks out of the playbook. The Crimson ran a reverse to junior wide receiver Carl Morris, a part-time QB in high school, who launched a 43-yard pass to a wide-open Taylor. With the Tigers sufficiently befuddled, Thomas ran for a total of 15 yards on the next three plays to set up a second-and-goal from the two.

“He just played his heart out,” Murphy said of Thomas. “He gave us everything he could, and it was enough.”

After Thomas’ runs, the task of scoring fell to Rose. The veteran warrior leapt over a pack of Tigers and landed hard in the end zone. Even though the Crimson had taken a 21-20 lead, Rose re-injured his shoulder and was forced to leave the game for good.

After the Crimson defense held Princeton on its subsequent drive, Harvard once again turned to Fitzpatrick to lead the offense. The rookie demonstrated good speed in rushing 14 yards for a first down and then showed off his arm with a 39-yard flea flicker pass to senior receiver Dan Farley. Farley’s superb catch brought the Crimson within striking distance at the close of the third quarter.

With a little over 13 minutes left on the game, Harvard faced a third-and-7 at the Princeton 13. Fitzpatrick floated the ball to a wide-open Carl Morris, who took off on a unexpectedly clear path to the end zone and extended Harvard’s lead to 28-20.

“I ran the wrong route,” Morris said. Any route that led to the end zone was good enough for Fitzpatrick, elated at throwing his first touchdown pass.

“It was an interesting play. They sent three linebackers, and Carl was so open… I was a bit confused,” Fitzpatrick said.

The tenacious Tigers responded on the ensuing drive. Atkinson would score on a 27-yard run, bringing the Tigers to within two. In the Tiger’s attempt for a two-point conversion, senior corner Willie Alford broke up Splithoff’s pass. Alford blocked the ball back to Splithoff, who then illegally attempted to shovel it forward again. Alford’s block would prove crucial.

Neither offense could manage any more scoring, and the game became a battle of field position as Princeton played towards a last-minute field goal attempt. Kingston’s punting, dismal most of the game, finally improved in the 4th quarter, including a crucial 44-yard punt that placed the Tigers at their own 12 with three minutes to play. The Tigers were able to move the chains consistently, reaching the Harvard 32, before senior outside linebacker Eric LaHaie came up with a huge tackle on a pass to Atkinson, stopping him for no gain. That set up the field goal attempt with seven seconds remaining.

Princeton had clearly put themselves in a position to win, and many on the Harvard bench though they had as the ball exploded off Northrop’s foot. The ball sailed through the crisp autumn air and landed wide of the goal, and the officials waved their arms to signal no good.

The Crimson’s last-second victory came as a great surprise, for the losses of Rose, Palazzo and Staph left the Harvard offense severely undermanned.

“We had our hands full in terms of adversity,” Murphy said. “From that situation, our kids responded real well.” Whereas last year’s team would have folded in a similar situation, this year’s team stood up to the challenge.

“I don’t know if we had the confidence and the playmakers a year ago to overcome losing three tailbacks [including sophomore Matt Leiszler, out for the season] and a quarterback,“ Murphy added.

The status of Rose, Staph and Palazzo is uncertain for next week’s home game against Dartmouth. Even though the Crimson would like to be at full strength in order to preserve its undefeated season and championship bid, it proved its resilience this weekend against Princeton.

“When you stop and think about what you have, it makes you realize that we have a good, solid team this year,” Morris said. “We have the potential to do a lot of big things, which just helps to say focused on our goal.”