Back in the Thick of Things

The roar of the Lions was reduced to a kitten’s purr Saturday, as No. 19 Harvard (7-1, 4-1 Ivy) pounded Columbia (1-7, 1-4), 42-28, in front of 12,437 fans at Harvard Stadium.

Senior quarterback Chris Pizzotti led a relentless aerial attack on the Lions secondary, throwing for a career-high 376 yards and four touchdowns.

He spread the yardage around generously, completing seven passes to sophomore Levi Richards for 103 yards and two touchdowns and six to junior Matt Luft for 110 yards and a score.

It was the first time in 33 years that two Harvard wideouts each had 100 yards receiving on the day.

Not to be left out, freshman Adam Chrissis added seven catches for 69 yards.

“We knew coming into the game they were going to play a lot of man against us, so it really came down to receivers just beating their man,” Pizzotti said. “They were open most of the time [and] did a great job today.”

On the other side of the ball, the Crimson notched three sacks and forced four turnovers, including three interceptions.

One blemish, however, was its special teams performance, including several mishandled returns, a missed extra point, and a touchdown given up on a punt return.

“All in all, a very solid win today,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “It wasn’t always pretty, but we did what we had to do— at least in two phases—to win the game.”

Pizzotti came out of the gate hot, finishing a 93-yard march down the field with a 14-yard strike to Richards in the end zone. Kicker Patrick Long missed the extra point wide left.

Both teams proved unable to build any further momentum, and the ensuing exchange of punts resulted in Columbia taking advantage of a start at the Crimson 39-yard line. Runs by quarterback M.A. Olawale and tailback Ray Rangel set up a 23-yard reception by Zack Kourouma for a touchdown.

An extra point later, the home team was down 7-6. Harvard responded immediately.

On the first play of the ensuing drive, Pizzotti avoided pressure and found sophomore Chris Lorditch streaking up the middle. Lorditch outran everybody for the 76-yard touchdown on his only catch.

After the two-point conversion, the score was 14-7, a lead the Crimson would not relinquish.

Olawale, in his second career start, wasted an opportunity for the Lions to respond, rolling right and throwing a pick directly to corner Andrew Berry sitting in zone coverage.

Looking to tack on more points in the second quarter, Harvard failed to take advantage of the interception, as Long missed a field goal try wide left.

Two drives later, Columbia threatened to claw its way back, reaching the Harvard 30-yard line before facing 2nd-and-1. But the Lions could not get the yard they needed, rushing three consecutive times for no gain.

Buoyed by its fourth-down stand, the Crimson took the ball and steadily advanced 79 yards down the field, ending the drive with three straight passes to Richards—a long 25-yard catch, followed by a 6-yarder, and then the capper, a 40-yard bomb in which he outmaneuvered two defenders and stretched into the end zone.

Olawale was replaced by the other half of Columbia’s quarterback duo, junior Shane Kelly, but he fared no better than his counterpart against the staunch Harvard defense.

On his fourth play of the game, Kelly scrambled and made an unwise throw into the hands of freshman cornerback Matt Hanson, who returned it 28 yards to the Lion 16-yard line.

Pizzotti lofted it into the end zone to Luft for a 17-yard touchdown, making the score 28-7 at the half.

Lions wideout Austin Knowlin opened the second half scoring, exploiting a lapse in special teams and scoring on a 76-yard punt return after the Crimson’s first drive of the third quarter.

A rushing touchdown by sophomore Gino Gordon granted Harvard a little more breathing room, increasing the separation to 35-14.

Two drives later, the ball was snapped over the head of Harvard punter Thomas Hull, giving Columbia the ball four yards from the Crimson end zone.

Olawale punched it in on the keeper to bring the Lions back within two touchdowns.

On his second drive of the fourth quarter, Olawale was intercepted by linebacker Eric Schultz at the Columbia 40-yard line.

Another spectacular defensive play a drive later gave Harvard its final points, when senior defensive end Peter Ajayi snatched a Kelly fumble after senior defensive end Brenton Bryant popped it loose, returning it 30 yards to make the score 42-21.

The Lions fought hard to the end, as Kelly masterminded a 75-yard play drive concluded with a 5-yard pass to Knowlin for the touchdown.

Safely recovering the ensuing onside kick, the Crimson eliminated any chances of an improbable comeback.

Harvard was off to its locker room, where it was delighted to see Yale take down Brown 13-3, giving the Crimson a share of the Ivy League lead.

Harvard was never truly able to put its opponent away, due in part to Columbia’s defense, which had five sacks and 13 tackles for a loss. The five sacks were the most against the Crimson offensive line this season.