Eyes on the Prize

BETHLEHEM, Pa.—Maybe someone has finally figured out a way to stop Clifton Dawson: cue the Lehigh defense.

But the way to slow down the rest of the No. 21 Harvard football team? That still went unanswered on Saturday, as the Crimson (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) squeaked by the Mountain Hawks (1-3, 0-0 Patriot) by a 35-33 score in front of 10,680 fans at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pa.

Although Dawson was held relatively in check—he gained just 94 yards on 31 carries—he did move into a tie for third place on the Ivy League’s all-time rushing list with three more touchdown jaunts.

While many wondered how much closer the senior running back would get to history, though, the story prior to the game was the surprise start of Chris Pizzotti, whose hyperextended knee was deemed healthy enough for the junior to play two weeks ahead of schedule.

“I felt pretty comfortable,” said Pizzotti of his 15-for-29, 291-yard performance, which also included a touchdown pass. “I really give a lot of credit to the receivers today against a really good secondary.”

Those receivers hauled in passes of 42, 44, and 46 yards on Saturday, one of which turned out to be the game-changing play of the afternoon.

With just over five minutes to play in the second quarter, the Crimson faced a fourth-and-four from the Mountain Hawk 42-yard line. Down 24-7 and out of field goal range, Pizzotti hit freshman Matt Luft for a short cross to try and keep the drive alive. Luft made the first man miss before outrunning the Lehigh defensive backfield for the score.

“Chris hit the young freshman on a shallow cross on what we call a smash route,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “Matt Luft made the exact adjustment.”

After forcing the Mountain Hawk offense into a three-and-out, the Crimson again took over with 3:40 to play before halftime. Just like the previous drive, Harvard was looking at a crucial fourth-and-four. But this time, it was a fake punt—a direct snap that sophomore defensive tackle Matt Curtis turned into an 8-yard run and a first down—that kept the Crimson offense on the field.

“[Special Teams coach] John Butler deserves the credit for it,” Murphy said. “John saw something on video that we might be able to exploit, and he said, ‘What do you think, coach?’ and I said, ‘Eh, let’s go for it.’”

And with less than a minute to go before intermission, the Crimson went for it again, this time in the form of a reverse wide receiver pass. Dawson took a handoff from Pizzotti, which he then gave to wideout Chris Sanders. Not entirely unfamiliar with the reverse, the Lehigh defense thought he was poised to run, but the sophomore uncorked a high pass along the right side for junior Corey Mazza. Though it was short, Mazza made the adjustment backwards, caught the ball, and turned back, dragging two defenders into the endzone.

It was Mazza’s best performance of the short season, with his four catches adding up to 118 yards and a touchdown.

“When you’re not controlling the line of scrimmage, you definitely have to be creative,” Murphy said. “It wasn’t comfortable play-calling, because it’s a lot more comfortable when you’re controlling the line of scrimmage.”

After averaging more than 175 yards through the team’s first two contests, Dawson’s three yards-per-carry average was only slightly better than last year’s 15-carry, 59-yard effort against the Mountain Hawks. The defense’s ability to again contain Harvard’s all-time leading rusher was most apparent early, as Dawson averaged just 2.7 yards per run for 41 yards before halftime.

“I think the kids did a great job with that,” said Lehigh coach Andy Coen about Dawson. “We ran to the football, we hit that kid harder than he’s been hit all year and maybe hit for the rest of the season.”

“They did a great job,” Dawson said. “Through the first half and throughout the entire game today, they really played hard and fast, and they made it as difficult as they could.”

Pizzotti’s surprise nod helped the Crimson avoid starting its fourth different quarterback in as many games, and his style as a pocket-passer also provided for a sharp contrast with the signal-caller on the other sideline. And while Pizzotti saw only limited time in a single practice this week, the Mountain Hawks entered the game fresh off their bye. Lehigh quarterback Sedale Threatt, son of the former NBA player of the same name, did pass for 293 yards and two scores. But his famed ground game didn’t prove a factor, as he managed net negative yards rushing the ball.

“They had two weeks to prepare for us,” Murphy said. “They had it schemed up and ready to go. It took us a while to adjust to the tempo and the level of execution, but that’s the one thing that didn’t beat us today, is Threatt with his feet.”

Harvard seemingly put the game out of reach in the third quarter, riding two Dawson touchdowns and the backend of 28 unanswered points to a 35-24 advantage. But a Lehigh field goal and a ten-yard Threatt touchdown pass to Mike Fitzgerald with 4:04 left made the contest a two-point game. The Mountain Hawk charge for a comeback ended when Threatt’s two-point conversion pass sailed over the head of his receiver and out of bounds.

“Our kids played so hard today, down 24-7 to a team like Lehigh on the road,” Murphy said. “We hadn’t really seen a ton of adversity outside of some injuries, and to get behind the eight-ball and to see the way we responded was tremendously satisfying from a coaching standpoint.”

—Staff writer Malcom A. Glenn can be reached at mglenn@fas.harvard.edu.