Football Resists Quaker Comeback, Wins 38-30

Harvard football coach Tim Murphy thought his Crimson had put Penn away.

Up 38-0 midway through the third quarter, Murphy pulled several of his starters, thinking ahead to The Game next week.

The Quakers proceeded to tally 30 points in 15 minutes, turning what looked like a blowout into a one-possession game with 4:30 left.

Penn came close to coming all the way back after Harvard went three-and-out for a fifth straight time, but the Crimson defense stiffened up at the last possible moment after giving up four consecutive touchdowns.

The Quakers converted two fourth downs on their final drive, getting all the way to Harvard’s 20 with 30 seconds remaining, but its luck ran out on 4th and nine. A pass over the middle was tipped up in the air and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Junior quarterback Conner Hempel, who was pulled in the third quarter after a dominant first half, came out for one kneeldown to give the Crimson a 38-30 victory, keeping its Ivy title hopes alive.

“If we weren’t so banged up, we wouldn’t have pulled so many guys, but obviously we pulled them too soon. We lost momentum, and it obviously became a very precarious situation,” Murphy said. “I was really proud of us getting the big stop at the end.”

After throwing for 220 yards in the first half, Hempel started the second the same way, marching Harvard down the field. Sophomore Paul Stanton finished the 12-play, 76-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run that put the Crimson (8-1, 6-1 Ivy) up, 38-0.

Murphy pulled Hempel, Stanton, and others at that point, and the Harvard offense subsequently stagnated. It did not get another first down for the rest of the game.

Hempel and the starters returned with 8:24 left, but they couldn’t find their first-half form, failing to convert a 3rd-and-one and a 3rd-and-three on their final two drives.

Meanwhile, the Penn (4-5, 3-3 Ivy) offense came alive. The Quakers managed just 56 yards in the first half, but quarterback Ryan Becker found his groove as his team compiled 262 yards in a wild second half.

First, Penn ended Harvard’s seven-quarter shutout streak late in the third quarter. After Becker converted a fourth-and-five, freshman Adam Strouss replaced him and ran in from one yard out.

Penn got a short field on its next possession after a 33-yard punt, and took advantage with another one-yard touchdown run by Strouss.

The Quakers scored twice more, and converted two-point conversions each time. Becker was 9-for-11 on those two drives, and converted the first two-point try despite an illegal substitution penalty pushing the team back five yards.

“It was almost like we flipped a switch,” Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. “In the second half, we executed great and they didn’t execute great. It’s a funny game when these two teams play. Fortunately for us, these kids did not give up.”

By that point, memories of last year’s collapse at Princeton returned to Murphy’s mind. Harvard led that game by 24 in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers scored 29 straight to upset the then-undefeated Crimson.

“I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t [thinking about that game],” Murphy said.

Just like last year, Murphy was faced with a fourth down late in the game. Once again, he opted to punt the ball away and trust his defense. Whereas Princeton drove the ball 90 yards to take the lead with 13 seconds remaining, Penn came up just short.

“We made it interesting,” Bagnoli said. “We just couldn’t quite finish it.”

Harvard survived thanks to the cushion it gave itself in the first half, when it scored a total of 31 points, including 17 in just over three minutes.

After senior David Mothander’s 19-yard field goal gave the Crimson a 17-0 lead with 3:01 remaining in the opening half, Harvard’s defense held Penn to zero yards on three plays, and junior Norman Hayes blocked the ensuing punt to give the offense the ball at Penn’s 28.

It took the Crimson just four plays to punch it in from there, with Stanton finishing the drive on an eight-yard scamper.

On the first play of the Quakers’ next drive, captain Josh Boyd got his first interception of the season and the Harvard offense got the ball back with 31 seconds remaining. Junior Conner Hempel and co. needed just 13 of those ticks.

Hempel first found senior Ricky Zorn for a 37-yard gain to Penn’s three. Then, freshman Ryan Halvorson hauled in a touchdown pass on the next play to put Harvard up, 31-0, with time to spare.

“We showed what we are made of,” Murphy said. “We got it done.”

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at jacob.feldman@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @jacobfeldman4.