Shampklin Shines as Harvard Tramples San Diego, 36-14

On the very first play of the 2018 season, things looked off to a foreboding start for Harvard football. As the pregame hype music died down and the Crimson's kick sailed into the air for the season’s inaugural kickoff, yellow flags immediately dirtied the field and the return was halted by whistles. Delay of game against Harvard.

The defense was not nearly as unprepared for the start of regular season action. Four plays in and the San Diego Toreros were ceding the ball to the Crimson for its first offensive drive, but the punt didn’t make to Harvard possession. Instead, it bounced off the back of senior Christian Houston and into the awaiting hands of the visiting team. San Diego resumed its drive at first-and-goal at the Crimson eight-yard line. The Toreros quickly capitalized, though they only managed to tally three points due to a strong defensive stand near the goal line.

It would seem, however, that these special teams mixups were not indicative of a team-wide streak of performance anxiety, but rather outliers from a team antsy for action.

An offensive clinic in the first quarter earned Harvard a 24-point buffer. The team carried that into the final whistle, boasting a convincing 36-14 victory in the 2018 home opener.

An unannounced absence of senior running back Charlie Booker III, a 2017 first team All-Ivy League selection, didn’t impact the ground game. Sophomore Aaron Shampklin turned the Saturday morning contest into a track meet. In the first quarter alone, Shampklin touched the ball exactly three times. All three times he scored, accumulating 109 yards to his name.

Sophomore running back — and Shampklin’s roommate — Devin Darrington added to the tally five touches for 48 yards and a touchdown, the first of his collegiate career.

“We call [Darrington and Shampklin] thunderbolt and lightfoot,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said.

By the final whistle, Shampklin had traversed 187 yards of turf, a new career high. His four touchdowns marked the best performance by a Harvard running back since Andrew Casten matched the feat against Georgetown in 2014. In fact, Shampklin’s touchdown tally today eclipsed his entire 2017 season during which he scored just twice.

At the conclusion of the first 15 minutes of play, Harvard had amassed a 24-point lead, 157 rush yards, 250 yards of total production, all on only 12 plays. It took four snaps to score the first 14 of those points.

Sophomore Devin Darrington tallied 98 yards and earned his first career touchdown in the win over San Diego. By Timothy R. O'Meara

Embroiled in a quarterback contest for the duration of the 2017 campaign that ultimately ended with him earning the starting job for the Harvard-Yale game — only to be yanked after three quarters — sophomore quarterback Jake Smith looked composed in his 2018 debut.

On the team’s first snap on offense, he threaded the needle to senior wideout Adam Scott, who maintained possession of the ball but couldn't manage to stick a foot inbounds. Smith ceded the ball to Shampklin on the next play, and the sophomore danced through the defense for a 64-yard touchdown. Smith hit the next three of his passes in the first quarter, landing 13-of-21 on the day for 195 yards.

San Diego was less successful on the ground and opted instead to attack the Crimson’s young secondary through the air. The connection between redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Lawrence and junior receiver Michael Bandy troubled Harvard’s defense all afternoon. The pair accounted for more than half of the team's total offensive production with Lawrence finding Bandy for 202 yards.

But when it mattered most, Lawrence couldn’t find a way to put the ball in his playmakers’ hands. Down 22 with six minutes remaining, the Toreros were posted up at the Crimson seven-yard line. If San Diego were to make a run for the lead, it had to score right there. At fourth and goal, the veteran play caller dropped in his pocket with plenty of time, told the entire stadium where he was going by staring down senior wide receiver Christian Brooks, and tossed it over his head. The sequence may as well have been a metaphor for the entire contest.

Lawrence’s large stat line fails to convey the whole story. On several occasions, the play caller had wide open receivers in the middle of the field and just failed put the ball in their hands. Had he placed the ball somewhere catchable, each of his teammates could have been dancing their way to six more points.

That opportunity was presented on few occasions, however. The rest of the afternoon, Lawrence was chased around the backfield by Harvard’s big men up front. While the Crimson did not tally a single sack against the elusive senior, the defensive unit hurried him 14 times. Contrarily, Smith was sacked once and hurried twice.

“One thing that we noticed on film with him is that he’s a veteran, he’s savvy, he doesn’t get rattled that easily,” said junior defensive lineman Brogan McPartland. “He gets rid of the ball very quickly, so it’s hard to get after him, even if you win with a completely clean move, you might not even get to him. So I think as the game started to progress, we started to think about it a little bit differently and maybe not focusing on the sack but trying to get a lot of hits on him, rattle him a little bit, and then just get hands up.”

While Harvard didn't manage to pull down redshirt senior Anthony Lawrence behind the line, it did hurry the quarterback 14 times — 12 more times than Harvard quarterback Jake Smith was hurried. By Timothy R. O'Meara

In the last three frames of play, the Toreros outscored Harvard, 11-9. That hardly mattered following the Crimson’s electric 27-point first quarter. After the opening period, the game transitioned into much more a defensive showdown.

San Diego failed to cross the goal line until 37 minutes had elapsed. That first touchdown was set up by a stellar punt from Toreros redshirt sophomore Tanner Kuljian. The 45-yard boot hopped out of bounds at the Harvard two-yard line. Backs against the goal post, the Crimson offense didn’t have the room to do anything with the ball, returning possession to the visitors in four plays.

Starting at the 50, San Diego moved within striking distance with a 37-yard toss from Lawrence to Bandy. After a stuffed run up the middle, sophomore Terrance Smith high stepped through open field into the endzone for six. The 13-yard sprint through open grass was followed by a successful two point conversion.

In the special teams, the Toreros avoided Justice Shelton-Mosley, opting instead for pooch kicks near its own 35-yard line or punts out of bounds. Last season, the senior led the nation is punt return average (18.8 yards) and punt returns for touchdown (two). When he finally did nab a kickoff following the San Diego first touchdown, Shelton-Mosley took it 43 yards down the sideline. The next time out, the Toreros pooched the kickoff once more.

For Harvard, the beginning of the season came two weeks after many FCS programs got up and running. By the time the first whistle blew on Saturday morning, San Diego had played four games since the Crimson’s last game action at the Yale Bowl. Since that day, Harvard had scrimmaged only itself. In the first quarter however, it was the Crimson that put on an offensive clinic. In comparison, the Toreros looked like the team that hadn’t yet seen game action.

“Ever since we left for Thanksgiving, the team’s focus has been getting better each and every day,” said captain and safety Zach Miller. “We know that we set very high expectations here, so for us to come up short last season, that was very disappointing. We locked in and really bought into what the coaches were talking about and preaching, and really just bought in as a full team — everybody, 100 percent, every day, working toward a common goal. I think you can see that from how we played today.”

—Staff writer Cade Palmer can be reached at cade.palmer@thecrimson.com.