Defense Staves Off Bears Before Offense Arrives

In a game that was supposed to showcase the glitz and glamor of the Harvard offense, it was the defense’s crushing efficiency that stole the show.

The Crimson’s six touchdowns and 52 points were no mean feat. But in the first quarter of Saturday’s Ivy opener against Brown, it was hard to believe the Harvard offense would ever find its comfort zone, much less the end zone.

“We came out and really, quite frankly, stunk the joint up offensively,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “But the defense kept us in the game, gave us some confidence, short field. Things just took off from there.”

On the very first play from scrimmage, junior quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick tossed only the third interception of his illustrious career. Just like that, the Bears had the ball at the Harvard 22-yard line.

But captain linebacker Dante Balestracci’s defense took over, swarming Bears rusher Brent Grinna on second down before punishing Brown quarterback Kyle Slager with a nine-yard sack on the next play.

When the Bears’ field goal attempt went wide left, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Anytime you can win on a situation like that—on a short field and having to run on after a turnover—and hold them to zero points, it’s just huge,” Balestracci said.

The confident offense that mercilessly pounded Holy Cross into submission one week ago may have mysteriously gone AWOL for most of the first half, but the defense was undeniably in attendance from the opening kickoff.

After the Crimson was forced to punt following a sluggish drive on its next possession, senior free safety Chris Raftery gave Harvard a wake-up jolt by snatching an interception at the Brown 23 and scampering into the end zone for a 7-0 Crimson lead.

“The key today was the defense early,” Fitzpatrick said. “That touchdown was huge by Raftery, and that kind of got the offense settled down a little bit.”

The interception was the first of three on the afternoon for the Crimson, with senior defensive backs Mante Dzakuma and Benny Butler each notching picks in the third quarter.

On the ground, the defense was smothering, recording five sacks and holding Brown to a mere three for 14 on third-down efficiency. Three of the Bears’ four fourth-down conversion attempts were rudely squashed, including a second-quarter screen pass to tight end Nick Christ that senior defensive end Brian Garcia sniffed out and shut down for a five-yard loss that gave Harvard the ball on its own 41. The Crimson would score on that possession to make the score 21-7.

“We had basically the same game plan [as last week], which was to shut down the run and turn them into a one-dimensional team,” Garcia said.

At times, the dexterity of the defense was almost comical, as the Harvard players worked alone or in pairs to harass the beleaguered Brown offense at every turn.

Near the end of the first half, an unguarded Slager attempted a pump fake so transparent that Balestracci and senior defensive tackle Jon Berrier practically had time to grin at each other before simultaneously pouncing on the hapless Brown quarterback.

“I think we were coming [in] all fired up, and the whole defense came out together as a unit,” Garcia said. “This week it was our turn to give [the offense] field position and hopefully open up some scoring for them.”

—Staff writer Lisa J. Kennelly can be reached at kennell@fas.harvard.edu.