Football Sets Stage for Battle With Penn

On a day when senior quarterback Neil Rose threw two interceptions and senior wideout Carl Morris was held to less than 100 receiving yards for the first time in 2002, the defense stepped up and led the Harvard football team to a 28-7 victory.

Harvard (6-2, 5-0 Ivy) restricted the Lion offense to just 52 rushing yards, forced two fumbles and reduced Columbia’s passing attack to impotent short-yardage screens.

At perhaps the game’s turning point the Crimson defense rose to the occasion.

Trailing 14-7, Columbia attempted a fake punt. The Harvard defense, however, sniffed out the trickery, as junior cornerback Chris Raftery read the play and tackled Columbia’s punter, Nick Rudd, for a three-yard loss.

“I was expecting something. I saw that the punter immediately took off, and I knew something was up,” Raftery said. “I needed to make sure that he didn’t get outside. After that play I felt the momentum change.”

Harvard coach Tim Murphy agreed, word for word.

“I felt a momentum change,” Murphy said. “I said all along that [Columbia] is obviously a team that has a lot to gain from plays like that and not a lot to lose. I told my kids to expect it.”

Foiling the fake punt not only swung the momentum in Harvard‘s favor, it also gave the Crimson offense outstanding field position. After starting at the Columbia 26-yard line, the Crimson needed just six plays to reach the end zone on an 8-yard toss from Rose to sophomore wideout James Harvey. The score put the Crimson firmly ahead, 21-7.

Playing up to his Buchanan Award hype, junior linebacker Dante Balestracci recorded a game-high 10 tackles and one sack. Early in the second quarter Balestracci recovered a key fumble as Columbia drove deep into Harvard territory.

Despite his outstanding individual performance Balestracci praised the Crimson defense as a whole.

“I thought the defensive line had a great game today,” Balestracci said. “Our intensity was at a very high level.”

While Harvard’s defensive performance was stellar, the unspectacular Crimson offense was not without its bright spots. After senior Nick Pallazo was sidelined early by a recurring shoulder injury, Harvard found its ground game in freshman tailback Ryan Tyler.

With 4:09 to go in the first quarter, Tyler put the Crimson on the board with 5-yard touchdown run tying the score, 7-7. Tyler, who saw his first action last week at Dartmouth, became the first Crimson tailback to rush for over 100 yards this year and the first Harvard freshman to ever perform the feat, by carrying the ball 19 times for 120 total yards.

Murphy was impressed by what he saw from his freshman tailback.

“What you don’t know about freshmen is their work ethic and toughness. This kid [Tyler] is tough,” Murphy said.

While Rose did throw a pair interceptions, the rest of his numbers were solid, as he completed 25 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns.

Rose was also the Crimson’s second leading rusher, scrambling eight times for 41 yards, including a two-yard TD scamper to seal the game, 28-7.

The first of Rose’s two touchdown tosses, a 15-yard strike to Morris early in the second quarter, broke a 7-7 tie and gave Morris his eighth touchdown grab in 2002.

On the day Morris caught 10 balls for a season-low 96 yards. Harvard’s supporting cast stepped up, however, as sophomores Rodney “Slash” Byrnes and Harvey racked up over 50 receiving yards apiece.

Columbia coach Ray Tellier wasn’t shocked by the Crimson’s solid offensive production.

“Harvard has been balanced all year. They run the ball well,” Tellier said “They have a nice passing game with two, three, four good receivers. We weren’t surprised by it.”

While Tellier hailed the Crimson offense, Murphy was critical of his team’s production.

“I thought we should have had more points, I think we squandered some opportunities.”

But Murphy was positive about a resurgent Crimson ground attack.

“I think the key thing was to come up with 230 yards rushing,” Murphy said. “That gets us back to where we want to be.”

Still, while the Crimson offense put up over 200 more yards than Columbia, it was the Lions who struck first.

After Columbia free safety Philip Murray intercepted a Rose pass deflected off of Morris’ hands Columbia marched down the field on a 10-play, 64-yard drive.

The drive was capped by an impressive 20-yard touchdown pass from Hunsberger to junior wide receiver Steve Cargile.

“I think they came out ready to play,“ Murphy said “They made the plays on the first drive and we didn’t. You can’t worry about that too much. We regrouped, talked it over, and made the adjustments we needed.”

And the Crimson defense definitely did regroup as it held Columbia scoreless for the remainder of the contest. Columbia’s was also the lowest point total of a Harvard opponent since October 28, 2000 when the Crimson trounced the Lions 34-0.

“I think it was a very business-like win,” Murphy said. “We just went out and did what we had to do.”