NOTEBOOK: Young Guns Pick Apart Secondaries

ITHACA, N.Y.—Heading into Saturday’s game, it was clear that the 2011 edition of the Big Red was far different from the team Harvard trounced a year ago.

Cornell already had two wins under its belt—matching its season total from last year—and QB Jeff Mathews was living up to the expectations placed upon him since he earned the starting job as a rookie.

Harvard, on the other hand, was still facing uncertainty under center. After senior starter Collier Winters learned earlier in the week that he would not play, junior Colton Chapple—earning his third start in as many games—had his work cut out for him.

Chapple faced the huge task of beating another conference foe, ensuring the squad maintained pace with defending champion Penn, and keeping up with the prolific Mathews.

In Saturday’s 41-31 win, Chapple proved that he could do all that and much more.

The game became a QB showdown right from the start. On the first drive, Mathews needed only three plays and a little over a minute to score the opening touchdown.

The pressure increased on Chapple, who had to play catch-up right away. The junior showed his nerves, opting to run the ball several times and failing to move his team far down the field.

“We came out a little sluggish,” Chapple said. “Playing on the road is never easy, [but] you have to get it done.”

It took a big play from the Crimson secondary to get Chapple going. Captain Alex Gedeon was at the right place at the right time when he came up with the ball after it bounced off Mathews’ intended receiver.

The interception set up the visiting squad on its own 19-yard line, and it was from there that Chapple started to find his rhythm with 6:01 left in the first quarter.

After a nine-yard completion to senior wide receiver Alex Sarkisian on first down and rookie Zach Boden’s run for eight, Chapple threw a 41-yard toss to senior wide receiver Chris Lorditch to put Harvard at the Cornell 23.

The Crimson quarterback did not stop there, finding sophomore Andrew Berg for eight yards before hitting senior Adam Chrissis for the touchdown. Chapple did not have any incomplete passes on the drive.

Chapple’s confidence increased tremendously as the game progressed.

The junior finished 23-of-38 and had 414 yards on the day, good for sixth on the single-game total offense category in school history.

“The kid has done a great job,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “We always say he’s not that pretty, he’s not that this ... But he’s 5-1 as a starter as a second-string quarterback.”

Chapple and Mathews both boasted completion rates of 60 percent on the day, but the Harvard backup finished with nearly 100 more yards—despite only completing two more passes than his rival—and four touchdowns, besting Mathews’ three.

Chapple had a career game and made his case for the starting spot. Murphy can’t go wrong by putting either Winters or Chapple at the helm, though it is important to note that all three of the Crimson’s wins this year have come with the backup taking the snaps.

“No matter what happens, we’re in good shape at quarterback,” Murphy said.

SHARING THE WEALTH

Though Chapple led the aerial attack, credit is due to his wide receivers, who outmuscled and outhustled their defenders to make nearly all the important plays.

Three receivers—Sarkisian, Lorditch, and Chrissis—had long receptions of over 40 yards, and five players averaged 16 or more yards per catch.

Sarkisian and Lorditch both were in triple digits, finishing with 112 and 103 yards, respectively.

Sarkisian was Chapple’s receiver of choice. The senior caught the ball seven times, his most important grab coming with the score set at 24-20, advantage Cornell.

After giving Harvard the first down on Big Red territory, Sarkisian streaked down the middle of the field with two defenders chasing him.

Chapple threw him a dangerous pass that somehow found its way past two diving Cornell players, and Sarkisian managed not only to catch the ball but also stay on his feet, strolling into the end zone.

“‘Sark’ battled,” Murphy said. “He’s a kid that came in here recruited as a quarterback, and he’s made a great transition. He gives us great leadership and toughness at the wide receiver position. He catches the tough balls; he gets the tough yardage; he makes the tough blocks. He’s definitely one of the unsung heroes on this team.”

Though the Crimson receivers were impressive, the Big Red’s Shane Savage bested their individual statistics, posting 152 catching yards and two touchdowns.

Savage gave the Harvard defense trouble all day, but fortunately for the Crimson, the rest of Cornell’s receivers weren’t nearly as dangerous.

MIXED REVIEWS

The Harvard secondary, which had allowed only one touchdown in eight quarters up until Saturday, had its ups and downs against the Big Red.

“We didn’t play as well as we could have on the back end,” Murphy said. “I think a lot of that is really great execution and game planning by the coaching staff of Cornell and the execution by Jeff Mathews and his wide receivers.”

But with its offense running on all cylinders, the Crimson defense knew that the pressure was on the opponents to keep up.

After putting up 17 points in the first half, Mathews managed two touchdowns after halftime, one of which came when the game was already out of reach.

With the score set at 41-24 and 10:56 left in the fourth quarter, the Big Red QB threw to Savage again, obtaining the first down at the Cornell 36.

But defensive tackles Matt Lunati and Josue Ortiz put a stop to Mathews, rushing the quarterback for back-to-back sacks and moving the hosts back 11 yards.

Mathews tried throwing again but was hurried by the Harvard defense before getting a short pass out to Grant Gellatly, who could not make up for the lost yardage.

And so the Crimson’s secondary came up big when the team needed it most, sealing the victory for the visiting squad.

—Staff writer Brian A. Campos can be reached at bcampos@fas.harvard.edu.