Top of the League

The road to an Ancient Eight title repeat may now be clearer, but it still isn’t any easier. With its win last Saturday against Columbia and Brown’s loss to Yale, No. 19 Harvard (7-1, 4-1 Ivy) now sits in a three-way tie with Brown and Penn (5-3, 4-1) atop the Ivy League.

But by no means is anything guaranteed, as the Crimson travels to Philadelphia this Saturday to take on its rival league leader. Despite being on a six-game winning streak during which it has outscored its opponents by an average of two touchdowns, Harvard must keep in mind a particularly sobering statistic—the Crimson is just 1-12 in its last 13 visits to Penn dating back to 1982, and prior to its 2004 victory, it had lost 11 straight at Franklin Field.

However, Harvard has its sights set on starting a new streak, and there is plenty of reason to believe it will find a fresh start.

The Crimson put on a show at Harvard Stadium last weekend, outgunning the Lions 42-28. Senior Chris Pizzotti threw for 376 yards and 4 first-half touchdowns, including a 76-yard strike to sophomore Chris Lorditch. Wideouts junior Matt Luft and sophomore Levi Richards each had 100-yard-plus games and combined for three scores.

“He’s probably the best quarterback in the league,” Penn coach Al Bagnoli said of Pizzotti. “And they’ve got huge wide receivers—I think there’s got to be a height minimum.”

Held to only 78 yards, the running game was stifled by Columbia’s front line, but the home team was never truly threatened. Taking the lead in the first quarter, the Lions held it for a total of 20 seconds before falling permanently behind.

On the other side of the ball, Harvard gave up the most points it has all season, but it capitalized on numerous Columbia mistakes, including three interceptions and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Boasting the league’s top ranking in both total and passing defense, Penn should present quite a match-up for the Crimson on Saturday.

The Quakers return home after defeating Princeton 14-9 last Friday in the 100th meeting of the two teams. In his first career start, sophomore Keiffer Garton ran for the go-ahead touchdown and passed for the game-winner. Named Ivy League offensive player of the week, Penn’s third-string quarterback—filling in for the injured senior Robert Irvin and junior Brendan McNally—went 16-21 for 132 yards while rushing for a team-leading 89 yards on 15 tries.

The league’s weekly defensive honor was taken by another Quaker, as senior defensive back Britton Ertman led a suffocating defense that held Tiger Jordan Culbreath, the leading rusher of the Ivies, to 57 yards and forced a key fumble.

The low-scoring contest epitomized Penn’s smashmouth style of football.

“They obviously have not been a prolific offense,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “But if you play great defense, and you keep the score low, you hang around, you’re in there in the fourth quarter. And they’ve won a lot of those close games.”

An area in need of improvement for the Crimson this weekend will be special teams. The game against the Lions featured a missed extra point, several mishandled returns, and a snap over the punter’s head, which led to a Columbia touchdown. As if that were not enough, Harvard, last in the league in net punting average, also gave up a 76-yard punt return for a quick six points.

Thus this weekend could be a sink-or-swim opportunity for the Crimson’s special teams, as Penn is ranked tops in the Ivies in kick returns and third in punt returns, having scored once on each. Harvard, on the other hand, is ranked last in both categories.

Also key to a victory will be the Crimson’s ability to take advantage of its fearsome passing attack to jump out to an early lead, since the Quakers average a mere 18 points per game.

“Franklin Field’s always a tough place to play,” Pizzotti said. “Penn always has a very good defense…they’re one of the most physical teams we’ll play all year.”

Matching Penn’s toughness and disrupting its inexperienced signal-caller will also be crucial in Harvard’s attempt to ruin Bagnoli’s chance for his 200th career win.