Football Grits Out 13-6 Win

After suffering through fourth quarter comebacks by the opposing team in each of the past four weeks, Harvard finally took command of a game in its final minutes on Saturday to beat Princeton at the Stadium, 13-6.

"I knew that this game would come down to the last series," Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said.

Harvard (4-2, 2-1 Ivy) took over at its own 42 after a botched kickoff by Tigers kicker Taylor Northrop with 3:32 left in the game and the score tied, 6-6.

After an incomplete pass from senior quarterback Brad Wilford, who completed 11-of-24 passes for 101 yards, senior running back Chris Menick broke through the Tigers' defense with a run of 17 yards to the Princeton 41.

Menick had 27 carries for 169 yards and carried the Crimson offense for most of the day, but the Tigers held Menick for no gain on the subsequent first down play. After another incompletion by Wilford, Harvard was faced with a critical third-and-10 yards to go.

Wilford dropped back to pass again and, finding no one open, scrambled down the right sideline, breaking three would-be Princeton tackles, for a 16-yard gain to the Tigers' 25.

After the Wilford scramble, Coach Tim Murphy decided to give Princeton a healthy dose of the Harvard running game.

Menick ran for three yards on each of the next two downs before bulling his way to the Tigers' 9-yard line and another Crimson first down. Menick then victimized the Princeton defense again, running the ball to the one-foot line.

Harvard called its last timeout to stop the clock with :07 left and set up the winning play.

After Murphy sent the field goal unit onto the field for the attempt, Princeton called a timeout to ice Harvard senior kicker Mike Giampaolo.

Apparently, Murphy was sufficiently concerned about his kicker to send the offense on to the field after the Tigers' time out.

"I remembered the Yale game last year, when we missed a field goal down at the goal line," Murphy said. "So I figured, why not go down swinging?"

Murphy was probably also influenced by the strong wind, which was blowing 25 mph into Giampaolo's face.

The Harvard offense lined up in a double-tight, three-back formation and ran a quarterback keeper into the end zone for the score.

The officials' delay in making the call created an agonizing last few moments before they finally made the touchdown call--as time apparently expired.

The officials then called the Crimson for excessive celebration after players rushed the field when they saw the scoreboard clock expire. According to the officials, time had not expired and they penalized Harvard 15 yards and put two seconds back on the clock.

After Giampaolo made the 35-yard extra point, Harvard covered Princeton's kickoff return to close out the game.

All of this drama never would have come about, however, if Princeton hadn't tied the score on its last drive of the game with a 52-yard Northrop field goal.

Sophomore quarterback Tommy Crenshaw passed to senior wide receiver Phil Wendler for 14 yards on the first play of the drive, sparking fears of yet another comeback through the air against Harvard.

After freshman running back Cameron Atkinson ran for one yard and Crenshaw threw an incomplete pass, Princeton threw incomplete again on third-and-9. However, a pass interference call on sophomore corner Willie Alford kept the drive alive and put the ball at the Crimson 39-yard line.

Crenshaw then scrambled for four yards on the ensuing play, but two incompletions stalled Princeton at the Harvard 35-yard line.

Northrop came in and nailed the 52-yarder with the strong wind behind him.

Despite the scoring at the end of the game, both offenses were stymied for most of the contest by the good defensive play of both sides.

The Tigers managed 315 yards of total offense while the Crimson tallied 295 yards in total offense. What is more telling is that neither offense could get inside the red zone for most of the game.

Harvard drove inside the Princeton 20-yard line only twice, and Princeton could manage to get inside the Harvard red zone only once.

"There really wasn't a lack of offense so much as there was good defense on both sides," Murphy said. "[The Crimson] defense played well, we kept them out of the end zone."

The game didn't look like such a defensive struggle in the first quarter. After Princeton's offense took three plays to go seven yards and punted, Harvard took over on the Princeton 49-yard line.

Menick ran for nine yards on the first play, then for six yards and a Harvard first down. Because Princeton couldn't seem to stop Menick, Murphy called his number again, and Menick responded with runs of six then three yards to get to the Princeton 25-yard line.

Wilford dropped back to pass on third down, but finding no one open, scrambled for a one-yard gain and another first down.

Harvard committed an illegal procedure penalty then lost four yards on a quarterback draw. A Wilford scramble netted five yards and, after an incompletion, Giampaolo came in and made a career-best 44-yard field goal with the wind.

After Princeton accumulated a grand total of minus 11 yards on its next drive, it punted, and the Crimson who took over on its own 46.

The first play was a reverse to senior wide receiver Terence Patterson that went for seven yards thanks to a Wilford block that let Patterson get to the outside. Menick ran for four yards, but that play was called back on a Harvard holding penalty.

Wilford then connected with freshman wide receiver Carl Morris for a 14-yard gain for a first down followed by an eight-yard hookup with tight end captain Chris Eitzmann.

After a fumbled snap, Wilford found Eitzmann again at the Princeton 18-yard line for another first down.

Although Harvard found the red zone on this drive, the Crimson couldn't make any progress there with Menick running for no gain on first down, Wilford passing incomplete on second down, and Wilford scrambling for two yards on third down.

Giampaolo came in for the second time in the first quarter, again with the wind behind him, to kick a 33-yard field goal.

On the next possession, Princeton moved down the field, helped by a timely Harvard personal foul to get its first points of the game.

Crenshaw found Wendler for a 15-yard gain on the drive's opening play. After an incompletion, Crenshaw hit Wendler for a two-yard pass to the Princeton 35-yard line.

Harvard forced an incompletion on third-and-8 but committed a personal foul for roughing the passer on a cornerback blitz. The 15-yard penalty let Princeton's offense stay on the field and gave it the ball at midfield.

Crenshaw directed the Tigers down to the Crimson 7 before a timely Princeton penalty and an incompletion stopped the drive. Northrop kicked a 34-yard field goal to put the Tigers on the board.

The rest of the game was played near midfield as both teams struggled to find a way to score.

Harvard relied heavily on Menick as the Crimson's throwing game barely produced 100 yards. Harvard finished the game with 194 rushing yards on 43 attempts. Menick's 6.1 yard-per-carry average and hard-nosed running style made it very difficult for the Tigers' defense to tackle him, and Menick moved to within 37 yards of Eion Hu's '97 school career rushing record.

Much of the credit for Menick's high yards per carry average has to go to the offensive line as well as to Menick's bruising style.

Menick got most of his yards through the heart of the Tigers defense and after contact. The Crimson offensive line was very effective at opening holes inside while Menick enjoyed only limited success running wide.

Princeton, facing the Crimson's senior-laden defensive front seven, relied on its passing attack throughout the game. The Tigers unveiled a new five-wide receiver set against Harvard, which they used with some success.

Crenshaw completed 21-of-40 passes for 242 yards. Princeton may have lacked confidence in its running attack because of starting running back Derek Thiesen's suspension due to an NCAA violation. Another part of the reason for the glut of passing was probably the Crimson's defensive scheme.

"Our goal was to make them throw," said Murphy. "We thought that they wouldn't be comfortable in that situation."

This strategy might seem a little strange for people who have followed Harvard this year, since the Crimson has been repeatedly victimized through the air.

In the end, though, it was Harvard who put the hurt on Princeton with its last minute drive, culminating in the controversial but successful call to go for the touchdown rather than a field goal. With Wilford's last second end zone plunge, Harvard takes a 4-2 over-all record and, more importantly, a 2-1 Ivy League record into this week's game against Dartmouth.