Football Controls First Half Again

Over the last two weeks, Columbia and Penn scored zero points on the Harvard football defense in the first half of each respective game. The Crimson’s offense, on the other hand, posted 21 and 31 points, respectively, in those halves.

On Saturday, the first half of football looked remarkably similar to the previous two contests, with Harvard’s defense posting a shutout against Yale while the offense lit up the scoreboard with 28 points. Unlike last Saturday’s thriller against the Quakers, Harvard (9-1, 7-1, Ivy) won the 130th playing of The Game handily, downing Yale (5-5, 3-4), 34-7.

“We started the Penn game just like that, but for a bunch of different reasons, lost our focus, so I thought it was a great reaction for our football team to jump out like that and get the momentum back,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said.

The Crimson offense, which converted five of its six first-half third downs, executed with surgical efficiency, reaching the end zone on every drive except the last one before halftime, when punter David Bicknell kicked it away with 19 seconds remaining.

Harvard’s 298 offensive yards heading into halftime were nearly double Yale’s output of 174 yards, and the Bulldogs offense, which struggled to put together cohesive drives, did not cross midfield until the second quarter.

On that drive, Yale couldn’t convert a successful drive into points. The Bulldogs reached the red zone, but sophomore linebacker Matt Koran wrapped up Yale running back Kahlil Keys in the backfield on a third down, forcing Reno’s squad to kick a 38-yard field goal. Kyle Cazzetta’s kick missed just wide left, leaving the Bulldogs scoreless.

“We didn’t convert on third downs,” Yale coach Tony Reno said. “We were one of 10 for third downs in the first half, and you’re not going to win football games when you don’t convert third downs.”

Yale’s second drive of the game seemed promising when Bulldogs quarterback Henry Furman hit a streaking Candler Rich for a 15-yard pass that would have put Yale in Harvard territory, but junior safety Norman Hayes knocked the ball loose, and senior cornerback DJ Monroe jumped on it. The Crimson would score on the ensuing drive to extend its lead to 14.

“We had a key third down converted, ball at midfield, momentum going our way a little bit in that drive, and we gave the ball back,” Reno said. “That’s kind of been [a theme] in our losses all year.”

FINAL STANT-ZA

Every Harvard scoring drive of the first half had one thing in common—each ended with sophomore running back Paul Stanton barreling into the end zone for a score.

The four touchdowns that Stanton tallied, all of which came before halftime, tied the record for the most by any player in The Game.

“This was my first four-touchdown game,” Stanton said. “In high school, I had three a couple of times, but I don’t think four. It was a huge game to play in—the last game with a lot of the seniors that I love, and to be able to go out there and play my best is awesome.”

The sophomore ran the ball seemingly at will in the first half, averaging 6.5 yards per carry. Stanton ended the half with 91 yards rushing and 39 yards receiving. Scrambling out of the pocket one time, junior quarterback Conner Hempel dumped the ball off to Stanton, who ran 25 yards untouched into the end zone to make the lead 14 points.

The following Crimson drive ended nearly identically, with Hempel finding Stanton on a short pass, and this time Stanton sprinted 21 yards for the score.

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK

When Yale came out of halftime and scored on its first drive to finally get onto the scoreboard, Murphy might have been thinking to last week’s Penn game. The Crimson was up 38-0 before the Quakers scored 31 unanswered points to nearly pull off the greatest comeback in football history.

But the Harvard defense made sure that this game would not be a repeat performance.

“It all starts with defense,” Murphy said. “Yale’s a really good offensive football team, and it was really one of the outstanding defensive efforts we’ve had in a long, long time. I think that set the stage for the game.”

Down by 24 early in the fourth quarter, Furman and company were driving into Harvard territory when the veteran Crimson defensive corps intervened. Senior Brian Owusu broke up a pass intended for Myles Gaines on third down, and on the following play, senior safety Chris Splinter picked off Furman’s ball, effectively quashing any hope of a Bulldogs comeback.

—Staff writer Samantha Lin can be reached at samantha.lin@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @LinSamnity.