Crimson Holds Off Big Red in Ithaca

ITHACA, N.Y.—For a brief period in the third quarter, it appeared that Harvard might be in for a fourth straight game decided by a touchdown or less. Cornell’s Peter Zell nailed a 38-yard field goal on the Big Red’s opening drive of the second half to pull to within four points of the Crimson at 19-15, a deficit that had been 19-0 with just 3:11 to play in the second quarter.

Momentum would not stay with Cornell long, however, as Harvard responded with a 51-yard touchdown strike from senior quarterback Chris Pizzotti to sophomore wideout Matt Luft on the ensuing drive, giving the Crimson (2-2, 2-0 Ivy) a 25-15 lead on the way to a 32-15 victory over the Big Red (2-2, 0-2 Ivy) in front of 10,619 fans at Schoellkopf Field.

“It was a play we run all the time, something that happened last year against Lehigh,” Luft said of the score. “I just kind of saw the first guy missed, and the middle opened up, and I just tried not to get caught.”

Before Luft turned a simple slant pattern into a long touchdown, the outcome was still very much in doubt. The Crimson opened the game with a dominant offensive drive—moving the ball 89 yards in 12 plays—that culminated in a 33-yard touchdown strike from Pizzotti to senior wide receiver Corey Mazza. A missed extra point left Harvard with a 6-0 lead. After several ineffective drives, including a Pizzotti interception, the Crimson scored touchdowns on back-to-back second-quarter possessions to take control of the contest. The first touchdown came on another touchdown catch by Mazza, this time a 27-yard grab, and the second on a nine-yard reverse to sophomore wideout Mike Cook right on the heels of a fumble recovery at the Cornell 9-yard line.

That fumble was the third Big Red turnover of the first half, as Harvard’s defense completely shut down the Cornell attack. After Cook’s touchdown with 3:11 remaining in the first half, the Big Red had amassed just 17 yards of offense.

But the momentum quickly shifted on the extra point after the reverse touchdown, as sophomore kicker Patrick Long kicked the ball low and into the back of his own linemen. The ball bounced back toward the kicker and was scooped up by Cornell’s Colin Nash, who returned it to the endzone for a safety to make the score 19-2.

On the ensuing Big Red possession, the enlivened Cornell offense used a 42-yard completion from Nathan Ford to Bryan Walters to move 71 yards in just four plays, capping the drive with a six-yard pass from Ford to Walters that made the score 19-9 with just 2:24 to play in the half.

As if the Crimson had not spotted the Big Red enough of a cushion, Pizzotti threw his second interception of the day on the first play of Harvard’s next drive, giving Cornell the ball at the Crimson 39 with 2:13 on the clock. The defense stiffened, holding the Big Red to a field goal, but Cornell pulled to within a touchdown, 19-12, with 54 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

The second half started in much the same fashion, with the Big Red marching to the Harvard 20-yard line before being held to a field goal, closing to four points and setting up Luft’s pivotal touchdown catch on the next drive.

“We rode a little bit of a wave,” said Cornell head coach Jim Knowles. “And then when we got down there and they held us to a field goal, that kind of put a little stop on it.”

Leading 25-15, Harvard still needed some big plays from the defense to preserve the lead. Cornell responded to Luft’s score with a 62-yard drive that ended at the Crimson 6-yard line when junior tackle Matt Curtis batted a Ford pass into the air and then corralled the tip, giving Harvard possession again and squashing the last serious Big Red threat.

“They definitely found a rhythm, [and] they moved the heck out of the football,” Murphy said. “They took up a lot of clock, but our defense really did a good job when they absolutely had to. Obviously, it was a great momentum swing and a morale boost when a defensive lineman picks off the tipped throw, because we were not having an easy time there.”

From that point, Cornell was stifled offensively, earning just 50 yards on its remaining four drives and adding a final interception. The Crimson, meanwhile, moved to the Big Red 1-yard line with 9:23 remaining in the fourth, only to turn it over on downs after failing on three tries to punch it in from there.

“It was really, really frustrating to leave the ball on the one-inch line down there, but we had great field position in the second half by virtue of our punts and our defense,” Murphy said. “It didn’t hurt so much knowing that they really had to drive the ball and they were limited to what they could do.”

Harvard had no such trouble on the next drive. After forcing Cornell into a three-and-out, the Crimson took possession at the Big Red 38-yard line and scored a final touchdown with 5:15 remaining on a three-yard scoring jaunt by sophomore running back Cheng Ho.

—Staff writer Brad Hinshelwood can be reached at bhinshel@fas.harvard.edu.