SIDEBAR: Dual Losses Bookend Streak

The last time the Harvard football team lost a game before this weekend was a memorable time. A wild swing of momentum on special teams, a key fourth-down call, and a turnover-free effort by quarterback Liam O’Hagan were the headline-makers against Princeton a year ago, the last time the Crmison lost before rattling off nine wins in a row.

So what made the difference this time?

A few wild swings of momentum on special teams, a key fourth-down call, the return of O’Hagan from suspension, and some head-scratching officiating marked the highs and lows of Harvard’s 31-28 loss to Tigers on Saturday. Last time, Harvard’s loss sparked a long win streak; this one served as the opposite bookend. Though the score and the repercussions were different, one element reigned supreme in both contests: drama.

“Princeton is a very close second to our Yale game in terms of a rivalry,” said Crimson coach Tim Murphy following last week’s win over Lafayette. “Our kids love to play Princeton.”

After another struggle this weekend, Harvard will have a hard time getting fired up for future contests against the Tigers’ special teams unit.

The game-changing performance last year was a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by former Princeton wideout Jay McCareins that gave the Tigers the 27-24 victory. This time, a number of bizarre special-teams plays were integral to the Harvard loss.

“There are plenty of responsibilities, starting with me, to get some things fixed,” said Murphy after Saturday’s loss.

An attempted fake punt turned ugly when the snap was high and the ensuing Rugby-esque scrum for the loose ball knocked the ball all the way back to the Crimson’s 12-yard line, where Princeton recovered it. The Tigers scored a touchdown three plays later.

“A really good team,” Murphy said. “You can’t give them the ball.”

It was just one of five turnovers on the day. And after a 2005 matchup without a giveaway, the Harvard mistakes were glaringly evident this time around.

“The game is really easy,” Tigers coach Roger Hughes said. “It’s about the ball. If you have it, keep it. If you don’t, get it.”

Nothing came easy for Harvard on Saturday. The muffed punt-fake was followed by four Crimson interceptions by three different players, the last three of which occurred on Harvard’s final three possessions of the game. Starting signal-caller Chris Pizzotti threw one in his quarter of work, while O’Hagan threw twin picks on the Crimson’s two last-ditch scoring drives late in the fourth quarter.

Then, while up 28-24 in the final frame, Harvard called on wideout Chris Sanders to throw a pass as part of a trick reverse. Instead, he lofted the ball into the hands of Princeton’s Luke Steckel, giving the Tigers the life they needed to claw back.

“We had set it up early with the reverse, and they didn’t cover,” Murphy said. “They covered it the second time around.”

Still, despite the turnovers on special teams at especially inopportune moments, the Crimson was right there at the end of the game—just as it was a year ago. A blocked field goal and a blocked punt earned the defensive special teams a few highlights, while in Harvard’s 93-yard opening drive of the second half, the Crimson converted on a fourth-and-inches play from the team’s own 16-yard line. It was a bit of vindication for Murphy, whose decision to go for it on fourth down at the opposing five-yard line a year ago was one of the difference-makers in that game.

The most questionable call of this game, though, will be remembered for what might not have happened.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on safety Danny Tanner with less than five minutes to play in the game, after a chest-pound that followed a broken pass, led to Princeton’s deciding touchdown. The jury was still out on whether it was, at that crucial juncture of the game, the right call by the referees.

“We got called on a penalty the same in the first half, so I credit the officials with calling the game equal,” Hughes said.

Murphy was less convinced.

“It just didn’t seem out of the ordinary,” said Murphy in describing Tanner’s actions following the play.

Either way, one thing remains clear about the Crimson’s last two losses.

“They did a better job than we did,” Murphy said.

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