McGINN AND TONIC: Crimson Ready To Be Champions

HANOVER, N.H.—This win wasn’t pretty—not all of them have to be—but it’s taxing victories like the one Harvard eked out over Dartmouth on Saturday that reveal a champion’s true mettle.

On paper, the Crimson should have won by more than 30 points. Easily.

The Big Green benched its season-long starter in favor of an untested novice, had struggled to run the football through six games, and, most notably of all, had yet to win even once. Harvard features arguably the two most potent weapons in the Ivy League, had until that point scored no fewer than 34 points in any of its contests, and entered play undefeated.

But the Crimson offense, while more successful than Dartmouth’s, failed to click for the first time all year. Crucial passes fell incomplete, Clifton Dawson rushed for a mere 69 yards and didn’t score, and field goals outnumbered touchdowns. Promising drives advanced inside Dartmouth territory, then faltered outside the red zone. Seven punts, four of them from inside midfield, pinned Harvard well below its standard scoring output.

“Sometimes everybody just assumes you can put it on autopilot,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “And it doesn’t work that way.”

A year ago, the Crimson’s 30-16 loss to Dartmouth, then 1-5, proved that. Regardless of who was under center, Harvard had bludgeoned opponents on the ground and through the air in each of its six wins, averaging nearly 38 points a game. But when the offense languished and the secondary fell victim to a series of miraculous completions, the Crimson’s title hopes fizzled. The Big Green wasn’t better—just, on that day, more resilient. When push came to shove in each of Harvard’s three 2003 defeats, the Crimson came away empty handed.

Not this time, though, regardless of how few bounces or calls went Harvard’s way, no matter how many chances Dartmouth was given. And the Big Green was given several stabs at the victory—many of them well outside the Crimson’s control.

“There were some interesting things in terms of the clock,” Murphy said. “Interesting things. That’s all I’m going to say.”

But neither the incompetence of officials nor the stubbornness of its winless opponent would stand in Harvard’s way. As in its 35-34 win over Brown, the Crimson simply found a way to win—or in this case, to not lose.

It’s not that Harvard is significantly more talented this year on either side of the ball—though Dawson and wide receiver Corey Mazza have both improved and a healthy Fitzpatrick is a marked improvement over a tandem alternating between an injured one and Garrett Schires. But the Crimson has benefited from a healthy combination of good fortune and clutch play—an elusive mix

A year ago against Columbia, Schires threw an interception in the final three minutes which allowed the Lions to score the game-winning touchdown. After the pick, the defense appeared listless, resigned to an impending defeat.

On Saturday, Matt Schindel’s missed 34-yard field goal handed the ball back to the Big Green with nine minutes left to knot the score. The Harvard defense couldn’t stop the drive, but it sure didn’t lay down and die. Though the Crimson surrendered a touchdown, the score followed a grueling 17-play, 80-yard drive—and that was only because Doug Hewlett, who appeared to be responsible for the coverage, had slipped, providing the exploited opening in the end zone.

But defeat wasn’t inevitable, as it would have been a year ago. It should have been no surprise that cornerback Danny Tanner broke up quarterback Dan Shula’s two-point conversion try. Nor would it have been a shock to watch the Big Green push an extra-point effort wide under the same circumstances.

With the clock ticking down and the Crimson driving towards the Penn goal line a season ago, time ran out on Harvard. Matt Fratto was wrestled down short of the end zone, in bounds, as the clock wound down. Penn 32, Harvard 24.

This time, the Crimson had the lead, desperately struggling to maintain it. With under 15 seconds left and Dartmouth at the Harvard 35-yard line, Shula hit tailback Chris Little out of the backfield. He broke towards the sideline.

A year ago, he’d have made it out of bounds.

This time, Ryan Tully was there.

The sophomore safety wrestled Little to the ground, yanking him safely inbounds with just seven seconds on the clock. Shula didn’t have the wherewithal to rush to the line to spike the next snap. Triple-zero flashed on the scoreboard as the ball hit the ground.

Game over.

“There are no style points in football,” Murphy said. “We were fortunate to get the win.” Fortunate or not, the Crimson did. And when Harvard is the undefeated Ivy League champion three weeks from now, that’s all that will matter.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.