NOTEBOOK: Title Race Becomes Murkier

Just a week after Princeton seemed to throw a monkeywrench in the engine of Harvard’s Ivy League title machine, Harvard is once again in the driver’s seat, controlling its own destiny for a twelfth league crown after Cornell’s 14-7 win over the Tigers in Ithaca, N.Y.

And just after the Crimson’s 28-0 beating of Dartmouth on Saturday, a few minutes before the Princeton game had gone final, Harvard coach Tim Murphy proved that he was just a little interested in that game’s outcome.

“Does anybody have a score for Princeton-Cornell?” he asked after the game.

Once the result went final, it meant that Harvard had assured itself of its seventh shared Ivy League title if it can manage to win its final three games of the season. For the Crimson to become the outright champion, it will need a bit of help over the season’s final three weeks.

Yale, which currently stands as the Ivy League’s lone squad without a conference loss, must lose at Brown next week for Harvard to have its best shot at an outright championship. Coupled with a Bulldog win over Princeton the following week and a Crimson win in The Game, Harvard would keep the Ivy League crown to itself for the third time in six years.

With all that in mind, Murphy kept his poker face, subduing any excitement after being notified of the Big Red’s lead on Saturday.

“Thank you very much,” he said simply.

SLIP ‘N SLIDE

Mother Nature offered a steady stream of rain throughout the afternoon, and the verdict was that the recently-installed FieldTurf at Dartmouth’s Memorial Field held up under the conditions.

“Quite frankly, with the expectations we had of the weather, we thought we got off really easy,” Murphy said. “We didn’t think it was that bad.”

And despite five combined lost fumbles by the two teams and six Big Green turnovers overall, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens agreed.

“We both played in the same stuff,” Teevens said. “It really didn’t affect either team.”

It did appear to have an affect on Clifton Dawson. The senior tailback, known almost as much for his sure hands as his power and speed, lost two fumbles against Dartmouth, just the eighth and ninth turnovers of his career.

“It was a case of me trying to do a little bit too much,” Dawson said. “To have two fumbles in one quarter is unacceptable and something I will definitely work hard to fix.”

SETTLING IN

After more than eleven months since he last started a game as the Crimson’s number one quarterback, junior Liam O’Hagan looked at ease under center for Harvard.

Though his numbers weren’t eye-popping—nine completions on 13 attempts for 121 yards and a score—he was turnover-free, playing carefully while Dawson and the defense did the rest.

“He just made good decisions, probably conservative decisions,” Murphy said. “In the context of the weather and the type of game it was, he did a real good job of managing the game.”

Though most of his duties on Saturday consisted of handing the ball to one of the Crimson tailbacks, his 37-yard touchdown on a third-and-fourteen heave for senior wideout Corey Mazza—along with a completion percentage near 70—showed that he was ready to air it out if necessary.

“I was pleased with what [O’Hagan] did,” Murphy said.

SCRAPES AND SCRAPS

Dawson’s 74-yard touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage was familiar territory for Dartmouth. Back in 2003, Dawson’s freshman campaign, the tailback from Scarborough, Ont. ran the second play from scrimmage 71 yards for a score. The Crimson ended up losing that game 30-16....Mazza’s third-quarter score marked the sixth straight game in which he’s caught a touchdown. After last week’s connection, O’Hagan became the fourth quarterback to hit Mazza in the endzone this season. Mazza also has catches for scores in eight of his last nine appearances....Despite seeing both an extra point and a field goal blocked, junior kicker Matt Schindel moved into a tie for fifth-place all-time in Harvard scoring on Saturday, with 168 career points. His next point will separate him from former Crimson receiver Carl Morris ’03 for sole possession of fifth on the chart....The final attendance at rain-soaked Memorial Field was just 2,028 for a stadium equipped to hold more than 13,000 spectators.

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