Pizzotti Shines in Big Game Victory

It could have been the happily-ever-after ending to a fairytale-like career. After being forced to miss his entire sophomore season due to injury, senior quarterback Chris Pizzotti stood triumphantly undefeated at the center of the Yale Bowl before 57,248 fans after besting ugly stepsister and bitter rival Yale 37-6 for the Ivy League championship.

It could have been the perfect career-ending moment.

But it wasn’t, because Pizzotti will be back again next year for his fifth season and to lead Harvard in another quest for the Ivy crown.

“It was something I was planning on since the accident my sophomore year,” Pizzotti said. “In the past couple of weeks, I thought pretty hard about it and realized I wasn’t really ready to stop playing football. Harvard football has meant a lot to me these past four years and I want to try to do whatever I can do to help win back to back Ivy League titles.”

Pizzotti took over the role of starting quarterback after senior Liam O’Hagan was sidelined by a shoulder injury in the third week of the 2007 season. Since then, Pizzotti improved upon the 1-2 record by notching six straight wins.

On paper, The Game looked to be lopsided in favor of the Bulldogs. Ranked No. 11 in the nation, Yale featured the league’s best scoring offense and defense, as well as the best red zone offense and defense. In addition, running back Mike McLeod headlined the Bulldogs’ offense as the nation’s leading rusher with an average of 174.3 yards per game. No one expected the ensuing blowout against such a talented team.

“We dreamed we’d get this result, we didn’t dream we’d get this kind of dominance,” coach Tim Murphy said. “There’s no question our kids believed they were going to win today, but I’m not sure we saw exactly this coming.”

Instead of crumbling under the pressure of having an undefeated Ivy season, Ancient Eight championship, and bragging rights on the line, Pizzotti shined. By playing arguably the best game of his life on Saturday, Pizzotti led his teammates to the title in the 124th showdown between the Crimson and the Bulldogs.

The league leader in passing efficiency, Pizzotti threw career-highs of 27 completions and four touchdowns on his way to 316 yards in the air. His first touchdown pass came just a minute after the start of The Game. Pizzotti’s 40-yard throw connected seamlessly with sophomore wide receiver Matt Luft to score the first six points of the eventual rout of Yale.

“To actually go out and execute on the first drive and have some pretty easy success was very important to our confidence,” Pizzotti said.

“It was an obvious confidence booster for us,” Luft added. “Scoring that quickly just gave us the feeling that, hey, we could do this all day if we do what we’re supposed to do.”

Pizzotti linked up with Luft again, sophomore wide receiver Mike Cook and junior tight end Jason Miller to score three more touchdowns throughout the course of the game.

“I was definitely the most emotional I’ve been in a game, and walking through the tunnel with the team was pretty much amazing,” Pizzotti said. “We just came out and executed as a team and playing before that many people was just an unbelievable experience.”

With any luck, Pizzotti will have that experience again next year.