RAIN DANCE: Behind a Stellar Defense, Football Romps in Season-Opening Win Over Holy Cross

If Mother Nature wasn’t going to slow down the Harvard offense, then the Holy Cross defense didn’t stand a chance.

On a day that felt like it belonged somewhere in the dark depths of December rather than September, the Crimson football team (1-0) had little trouble disposing of Holy Cross (0-3), drubbing the overmatched Crusaders 35-0.

With the remnants of Hurricane Ivan pouring down on Harvard Stadium, the well-groomed green turf turned to a muddy brown even before Harvard captain Ryan Fitzpatrick jogged out to midfield for opening coin toss. Players on both sides jumped and ran in place on the sidelines to stay warm. These weren’t the type of conditions the Crimson envisioned during the spring and summer as it fine-tuned its potent offense based on speed and quick strikes.

But Harvard adjusted flawlessly and pounded the ball on the ground, riding sophomore running back Clifton Dawson to 184 yards and three touchdowns.

“The thing we said we had to do was handle the elements better than Holy Cross,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “Specifically [we needed] to do a great job of ball security and force some takeaways....The bottom line is we did those things.”

Dawson did his part in that equation, carrying the ball 21 times without putting it on the ground. The sophomore picked up right where he left off as a freshman when he rushed for 1,187 yards and scored 12 touchdowns.

With Harvard already leading 14-0 courtesy of two shorter Dawson touchdown runs, the sophomore tailback broke the game open midway through the second quarter. Following a lengthy Crusaders drive into Crimson territory, Holy Cross wide receiver Sean Gruber fumbled at the one-yard line just short of the end zone. Junior cornerback Keith Howell recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a touchback.

One play later, Dawson took a handoff from Fitzpatrick and drove straight ahead through the defensive line, broke three tackles, and outran the entire secondary. Seventy-four yards later, Harvard had a 20-0 lead.

“No question [it was a turning point],” said Murphy of Howell’s recovery and Dawson’s long run, “because it essentially was a 14-point swing. It goes right down to the goal line and then we get the fumble in the end zone and we come back with a touchdown at the other end. I think that was the straw that broke [their back].”

On the ensuing extra point attempt, a bad snap caused junior holder Robert Balkema to abandon the kick attempt and roll left where he lofted the ball to senior linebacker Bobby Everett standing alone in the end zone for a two-point conversion.

The botched extra-point attempt wasn’t the only oddity to go Harvard’s way.

Senior receiver Brian Edwards, who is used to making big plays on the offensive side of the ball, surprisingly made his presence felt on defense. On fourth and two late in the second quarter, the Crusaders faked a punt. Edwards, who had been deep to receive the kick, bolted up field and into coverage, intercepting quarterback John O’Neil’s heave down the right sideline.

“We went over this on Thursday in practice, I was like, ‘Coach, what happens if they fake it?’” Edwards said. “He said, ‘Just play safety.’ I played safety in high school so when I saw that ball get lobbed up there all I was thinking about was an interception.”

“The thing he forgot about it is on fourth down you don’t want to pick it,” added Murphy with a smile—alluding to the fact that the Crimson would have had better field position had Edwards simply let the ball drop.

While the senior receiver only managed three catches for 28 yards in the sloppy conditions, he also made and impact on special teams, returning a punt 87 yards untouched for a touchdown.

On a day when Payton Award candidate Fitzpatrick connected on only seven of 15 passes for 79 yards and junior fullback Kelly Widman—who came into the game with one career catch—led the team in receiving yards with 35, Murphy was pleased with his signal caller’s game management.

“The quarterback’s main job on a day like this is to make sure you come away without turnovers and he made great decisions,” said Murphy of Fitzpatrick, who was lifted midway through the third quarter with the game already in hand. “It’s not about his statistics. It’s about field management and he did a great job of field management.”

On the other side of the ball, after Gruber’s early fumble, the Holy Cross offense couldn’t muster anything against the Crimson defense. The unit that was supposed to miss its leader and anchor, Dante Balestracci ’04, looked perfectly in-sync with junior linebacker Matt Thomas and Everett flying all over the field. The linebacker duo combined for nine tackles and put constant pressure on O’Neil, who finished the day with only 70 yards in the air. The tandem twice forced the Crusaders’ quarterback to throw the ball before he wanted, and both times the ball ended up in the hands of Crimson senior safety Ricky Williamson.

“I think we’re going to have a much better defense than we did a year ago,” said Murphy after watching his team hold Holy Cross to just 131 yards of total offense. “We really feel like we have some talented, tough, experienced kids and we should be a good defensive team.”

Even the kicking game, which in recent years has been a nightmare for Harvard, showed some promise. Freshman kicker Matt Schindel made field goals of 31 and 37 yards and appeared unhampered by the wet conditions.

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.