Football Looks to Extend Win Streak

In 1997, Bucknell marched into Harvard Stadium and erased an early Crimson lead to hand the Harvard football team its only loss of that season.

“That one will haunt me to my grave,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “Those kids should’ve had a perfect season. They should have been 10-0, finished 9-1.”

This Saturday, on its home turf, an undefeated Harvard team (4-0, 2-0 Ivy) will attempt to prevent history from repeating itself as it takes on the Bison (1-4, 0-2 Patriot League).

With a win in its last non-conference game of the season, the Crimson—coming off of a dominant 45-13 victory over Cornell—will extend the longest winning streak in Division I to 14 games.

Bucknell has not defeated Harvard since the 1997 contest. In the 2011 matchup, Crimson quarterback Colton Chapple threw for a program record-tying five touchdowns and ran for another score against an overwhelmed Bison defense en route to the Crimson’s 42-3 victory.

This year, with the senior at the helm once again, Harvard is heavily favored to defeat Bucknell.

In the rout against Cornell, Chapple threw for 362 yards and four touchdowns, but displayed his skills on the ground as well by rushing for 53 yards and another score.

“[Chapple’s] just gone from…a freshman, [when] we weren’t sure if we should be playing him at safety on defense, to one of the most accurate, poised throwers, big-play quarterbacks that we’ve had here,” Murphy said. “It’s pretty amazing.”

Harvard tailback Treavor Scales showed off the rest of the Crimson’s double-headed running attack on Saturday, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown of his own against the Big Red.

“One of the challenges that Harvard presents you with is the combination of the tailback and the quarterback,” Bucknell coach Joe Susan said. “That’s our challenge, to be able to stop the tailback but also stop the effectiveness of Chapple as a runner.”

But Chapple and Scales may have a tougher time against the stiff Bison defense, led by defensive end Sam Oyekoya. This year, Bucknell has held four of its five opponents to under 100 yards rushing.

“Nobody’s scored more than 20 points against us,” Susan said. “If you can come away from the Harvard game saying that, I think you’ve done a good job against one of the more explosive offenses in the country.”

While the Crimson’s offense has been dominant, averaging 47 points over the last three weeks, the Bison’s offense has been struggling, failing to put up more than 17 points in any game this season. Bucknell has dropped its last four games, although the last three losses have been within one score.

“They’re a team that’s capable of beating everybody, mostly because they’ve been in every game, right up until the very last series,” Murphy said.

Last week against Holy Cross, a team that Harvard soundly defeated just two weeks ago, the Bison couldn’t find its offensive footing, and the Crusaders took advantage, claiming a 13-6 victory.

On Bucknell’s last drive of the game, backup quarterback Trey Lauletta drove the Bison, trailing by a touchdown, down the field into Holy Cross territory, but a late interception sealed the victory for the Crusaders.

“They’re a team that clearly, on paper, isn’t a great offensive team,” Murphy said. “[But] if you play great defense, no matter who you play, you’re going to be in every game, and they have been.”

Some of Bucknell’s struggles can be attributed to a recent slew of injuries. But Brandon Wesley—the Bison’s starting quarterback who was recently sidelined due to a lower leg injury—and tailback Tyler Smith—coming off of a high ankle sprain—should both be at full strength by Saturday.

The Crimson, which has a top-ranked rushing defense that rivals Bucknell’s, looks to repeat its strong defense against the pass as well. A week ago, Harvard sacked Big Red quarterback Jeff Mathews four times, pressuring the explosive quarterback into an interception and holding him to just one passing touchdown.

While the offense has been running up the score, the defense has made sure that it is predominantly the Crimson getting onto the scoreboard—Harvard has been winning games by an average of almost 30 points.

“We practice hard, that’s one thing that we pride ourselves on,” captain Bobby Schneider said. “The coaches do a great job of getting us ready, and all that we have to do by the time Saturday rolls around is go out there fly around and have fun, and the rest of it’s been taken care of during the week.”

Despite Bucknell’s less-than-stellar record, the Crimson is approaching the last of its three-game home stand with the same focus that they would a conference game.

“[Bucknell is] definitely a tough team,” Schneider said. “We’re not taking them lightly, we’re coming in just like we would any other game.”