NOTEBOOK: Turnovers Key In Football Victory

The timeless maxim repeatedly sounded by football coaches at any level is that turnovers will always come back to haunt you. The old adage could not have been more appropriate than on Saturday night in the Harvard football team’s conference opener.

Brown turned the ball over four times, and the Crimson capitalized on those mistakes to build a sizable lead and seize control of a game that would eventually turn into a 41-23 rout.

The first two Bears turnovers came in the second quarter—and Harvard gratefully accepted the gifts by punching the ball into the end zone each time.

The initial Brown miscue came when junior defensive back Norman Hayes took a swipe at Bears tailback John Spooney and jarred the ball loose. After senior tackle Nnamdi Obukwelu pounced on the ball, Hempel and the Crimson offense needed just two plays to take advantage of the short field position for six points.

Just a few players later, Brown’s most costly error came when quarterback Patrick Donnelly’s pass bounced off a Bears receiver and into the hands of senior defensive back Jaron Wilson, who cut and slipped his way past a number of would-be tacklers before diving into the end zone.

The 51-yard interception return put Harvard up 21-13 late in the second quarter. Whereas the Bears had seemingly been moving the ball at will in the first quarter, those two turnovers threw a wrench into the smooth Brown attack and allowed Harvard to pick up much-needed points.

“The biggest thing was turnovers,” Bears coach Phil Estes said. “We got up right away…. After that, once we had the Spooney fumble it kind of turned the momentum their way. And when that happened we didn’t have an answer for them. They just picked up the tempo.”

Donnelly went on to throw two more interceptions, although the Crimson offense would not put any additional points on the board off of them.

Harvard committed three turnovers of its own—although one resulted from a Brown punt that bounced off an unsuspecting Harvard special teamer early in the fourth quarter. But unlike the explosive Crimson offense in the second quarter, the Bears were never able to take advantage of the miscues and swing the momentum the other way.

ONE QUARTER SHADED BROWN, ANOTHER TINTED CRIMSON

Nothing was going Harvard’s way. After an interception thrown by junior quarterback Conner Hempel led to Brown’s first touchdown, the Bears successfully executed a surprise onside kick and later forced a Harvard three-and-out to end a 13-0 quarter.

The Crimson gained only 55 yards in the first period of play. The Brown offense, on the other hand, possessed the ball for a dominant 10:38 of the opening 15 minutes and never seemed to leave the field.

But the second quarter was a different story. Harvard played like an inspired team, quickly forcing a Brown punt and marching down the field for a 72-yard touchdown drive capped by a Hempel run.

The next two scores came off two Brown turnovers, propelling the Crimson into the lead. But Harvard was not finished with its second quarter exploits. After another Bears punt, Hempel and the Crimson perfectly executed a two-minute drill to push the score to 28-13.

“It was just like San Diego, quite frankly,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “Our defense couldn’t get off the field, our offense couldn’t really stay on the field. And that’s not a good combination. It’s amazing to me that we scored 40 points two games in a row because we just haven’t had a lot of possession time.”

Although the Bears won the time of possession battle again in the second quarter, the Crimson’s offensive efficiency rendered that stat irrelevant for the time being. In the quarter, Harvard racked up 167 total yards to Brown’s 50. Three touchdowns on three drives, plus an interception returned for a score, had completely turned the game around.

THE PENALTY BOX

On some instances, the flags put the Crimson in undesirable situations.

On the first play of Brown’s third drive, senior linebacker Conner Loftus was penalized for a facemask that moved the Bears into striking distance. And just three plays later, Donnelly found a receiver in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown.

With Harvard on defense later in the quarter, Wilson intercepted a pass and ran it back for the Crimson score. But the senior was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct call for diving into the end zone, and Brown received even better field position after another penalty forced Harvard to kick off from its own 15. Luckily for the Crimson, the defense was able to ensure a quick stop.

In the second half, a big kickoff return by sohpomore Andrew Fischer was negated after a block in the back, and a sizable gain by sophomore running back Paul Stanton was brought back in the fourth after another flag.

In total, Harvard committed 12 penalties costing the team 89 yards—something the team will need to cut down on as the conference schedule continues.

—Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at david.steinbach@thecrimson.com.