Harvard Plays Dominant Fourth Quarter

ITHACA, N.Y.—Finishing has been a focal point for Harvard head coach Tim Murphy all season, and, following Saturday’s 32-15 victory at Cornell, it was once again a topic of conversation for the Crimson.

That’s because each of Harvard’s first three games were either won or lost because of the team’s ability, or inability, to finish well, and the Week 4 win over the Big Red demonstrated the best and the worst of the Crimson when it comes to closing the door on opponents.

For the most part, Harvard finished drives in a fashion not yet seen this year, scoring five times—all touchdowns—in the team’s biggest offensive output of the season. The Crimson also scored three times in four trips to the red zone, finally helping to shore up an area that plagued the team in its two losses this season.

It was Harvard’s one unsuccessful red zone trip, however, which was indicative of the team’s troubles putting the proverbial nail in the coffin this year.

Driving early in the fourth quarter, a 17-yard strike from senior quarterback Chris Pizzotti to senior wideout Matt Lagace set up a first-and-goal for the Crimson at the Cornell 5-yard line. A rush by freshman quarterback Collier Winters got the ball to the 1-yard line, but the three Harvard runs that followed netted almost nothing, forcing the Crimson to turn the ball over on downs with the ball sitting about as close to the goal line as possible without breaking the plane.

“It was really, really frustrating to leave the ball on the one-inch line down there,” Murphy said.

But after forcing a three-and-out on the ensuing Big Red drive, Harvard got the ball back, handing the ball to sophomore running back Cheng Ho on seven straight plays, including a successful fourth-down conversion along the way and a touchdown that would be the game’s final score.

While Harvard struggled at times to finish drives and finish plays, the team also gave its opponent fewer opportunities compared to weeks past.

“We made some progress,” Murphy said. “We had great field position in the second half by virtue of our punts and our defense. It didn’t hurt so much knowing that they really had to drive the ball and they were limited to what they could do.”

On Saturday, however, it was about more than just closing out drives. The Crimson dominated the early going, building a 19-0 lead with 3:11 to play in the second quarter on a nine-yard Mike Cook reverse for a touchdown that was set up by an excellent block from sophomore offensive tackle Ben Sessions.

“We had a nice reverse where it wasn’t perfect, but Mike made a good move and he finished the play off,” Murphy said. “Not just made the play, but finished the thing in the endzone.”

But when Harvard lined up for the ensuing extra point, sophomore kicker Patrick Long slipped on Schoellkopf Field’s Astroturf, sending the ball into the Crimson offensive line and then bouncing into the hands of a Big Red defender, who returned it over 90 yards for the safety. It was the first in a series of late-half Harvard meltdowns—a Cornell touchdown, a Pizzotti pick, and a Big Red field goal all in the last 2:24 of the second quarter—that gave Cornell a surge of momentum heading into the intermission.

“You block the extra point, pick it up, run it back, and now you think you’ve got something to grab on to,” said Big Red head coach Jim Knowles.

But as was the case all game, when the Crimson gave one up, it later took it back. Cornell’s field goal on the opening drive of the third quarter trimmed the deficit to four, the closest margin of the game, before Harvard responded with a 51-yard scoring pass from Pizzotti, who finished with 284 yards on 16-of-27 passing, to sophomore Matt Luft—to finally finish off the Big Red.

“Anyone who knows football knows it’s such a tenuous thing, momentum,” Knowles said. “We felt like we didn’t have it, then all of a sudden, we had a rush. We had our chance, but we just didn’t make enough plays to keep it going.”

Junior Matt Curtis’s interception on the following drive proved as much, showing that, finally, the Crimson could finish what it started.

“They definitely found a rhythm,” Murphy said of Cornell. “But our defense really did a good job when they absolutely had to.”

—Staff writer Malcom A. Glenn can be reached at mglenn@fas.harvard.edu.