Running Man

PROVIDENCE­­—Old-school power football was on display as the Crimson (2-0, 1-0 Ivy) used a physical rushing attack to pound the Brown Bears (1-1, 0-1 Ivy) into submission 38-21 before 8,456 fans at Brown Stadium on Saturday.

But instead of the ancient “three yards and a cloud of dust” offense, senior running back Clifton Dawson turned his 181 yards at a 7.2 yard per carry clip, including 104 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter.

Harvard ran the ball 44 times for 261 yards while throwing on just 23 plays with sophomore third-string quarterback Jeff Witt making his first career start.

But the Crimson never had to ask Witt to do much behind an offensive line that manhandled the Brown defense all day.

“They beat us up,” Brown head coach Phil Estes said. “They were better up front.”

After forcing a three-and-out on Brown’s first possession, Harvard received the ball on its own 43. The Crimson immediately responded with a seven-play drive that was highlighted by a 31-yard scamper by Dawson. After the Bears held on the first three goal-to-go plays from inside the two, Dawson punched in a touchdown with his fifth carry of the drive.

After another Brown three-and-out, Witt was intercepted on the first play of the drive, his only damaging mistake of an otherwise efficient 13-for-20, 189 yard day.

“He was trying to throw it out of bounds and just didn’t throw it far enough,” coach Tim Murphy said.

Despite giving the Bears great field position, the defense forced another three-and-out.

This time, Harvard didn’t have to worry about turnovers. On the fourth play of the drive, Dawson broke off a 58-yard touchdown run around the right side. He was hit and appeared ready to go down at the line of scrimmage, but simply busted through the tackle and found open field.

Equally successful was the defense, which forced Brown into three-and-outs on its first four possessions. The Bears didn’t record a first down until more than four minutes into the second quarter, when the score was already 21-0 in favor of the Crimson after Dawson’s third touchdown run of the day, this time from two yards out.

Harvard’s rushing defense, statistically the best in Division I-AA, limited Brown to just 35 rushing yards, a week after holding Holy Cross to 40.

“We just needed to do a better job establishing the run,” Estes said.

“We looked and saw that we’re going to be in a struggle here, and I think we as coaches panicked on offense and decided to throw the ball,” he added.

But Brown countered the Crimson’s opening salvo with an 18-play, 66-yard drive over 8:16 in the second quarter, making the score 21-7 at the half.

Brown came out with a little momentum after halftime, stifling Harvard’s opening drive and forcing a punt. But the opportunity was soon wasted as DiGiacomo rolled out on the first play of the ensuing possession and threw into heavy coverage along the left sideline, where senior cornerback Steve Williams was waiting to make the interception.

It didn’t take long for the Crimson to capitalize on DiGiacomo’s mistake. Witt found senior wide receiver Corey Mazza in the end zone from 14 yards out to cap off a 52-yard drive that gave Mazza in the end zone from 14 yards out to cap off a 52-yard drive that made the score 28-7.

Another quick three-and-out gave Harvard possession again, and this time Witt carried much of the load, completing passes of 21 and 33 yards. Junior kicker Matt Schindel then split the uprights with a 34 yard field goal to put the Crimson up 31-7 with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter.

Brown began to search for a little magic of its own in the fourth quarter, seeking a comeback to rival Harvard’s miraculous rallies in the last two games, and was aided by a pair of personnel changes.

Witt slightly injured his elbow on the final play of the third quarter and was replaced by senior Richard Irvin for the remainder of the game, while Dawson was also removed to prevent any injury.

“I’m just a little banged up right now,” Witt said.

“It was more of a precaution than anything,” he added.

A missed field goal on that drive gave the Bears possession at their own 20 yard line with 11:39 to play. A strong passing attack moved them quickly downfield before senior running back Akin Oyalowo punched it in from a yard out. DiGiacomo ran for the two-point conversion, making the score 31-15.

The Crimson took the ball back and appeared poised to score again after a quick screen pass on the left side from Irvin to senior wideout Matt Lagace went for 48 yards.

But a 37-yard Schindel attempt sailed wide right, giving Brown the ball once again.

Another aerial assault resulted in another Bears touchdown, but this time the quarterback draw was stuffed short and Brown was left down 31-21.

A nearly perfect onside kick was almost recovered by Brown, but senior Neil Sherlock made the recovery for Harvard, flushing all Brown hopes for a comeback.

—Staff writer Brad Hinshelwood can be reached at bhinshel@fas.harvard.edu